Firstly, I'm guessing this is in the wrong forum.. try
Video Software Help. Someone will probably move this in a while though, so there's no need to repost.
Secondly.. whoever said that you needed Adobe lied to you. You certainly don't need any fancy Adobe programs to rip useable footage.

Footage can be ripped with free downloadable programs - or at least, that's certainly what I use..
Personally, I use (you'll have to look them up since I'm running late as it is):
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DVD Decrypter
Used to rip the dvd content.. they're big files but saves time and keeps quality high. But it's not really necessary to do this and get good quality though, especially not if you haven't got much HDD space, I mainly use it as a precaution and then delete the large files afterwards. Sometimes I don't even bother. But you DO need it if you're ripping protected DVD content.
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DivX DVD Ripper/"DDR"
Used to open VOBs and IFOs ripped/on dvd disc. It's quite a tricky program and takes some getting used to, definately - but once you've got the right input sorted and you've played around with it for a while it's no problem at all and gives great quality results.
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3viX .avi Codec
Also known as '3viD'. 3viX isn't for everyone but it's the codec I use so I thought I'd add it here incase you wanted to check it out.
And then I import it into Premiere, but it works with most programs, so I'd expect it works with WMM, seeing as pretty much everything else does.
Lemme know if you want more in-depth info with anything I use and I'll be happy to tell you/walk you through it when I get back.
