Can anyone point me to some good software that'll rip the movies off some of my DVDs? I don't really want to obtain them from alternative sources that hog up bandwidth.

You can try this: http://www.brothersoft.com/free-dvd-rip-and-burn-50353.html

One more little hint: http://www.giveawayoftheday.com usually gives out some good (licensed) DVDripping software twice a month or so. Check it daily and eventually a DVDrip program will pop up.

You can download whatever you want to rip from a torrent website (its not illegal if you actually own the DVD). If you still want to rip, then here's a good guide

http://dailyapps.net/2008/08/hack-attack-h...ality-dvd-rips/