Replying to Copying dvds to avi

Ok so I want to take my entire dvd collection with me to france for the season, as French tv kinda sucks. I will be putting it all on an external 120gb hard drive. I can't seem to figure out what programs I need to make this work. I just want to be able to watch them on my computer, not burn them to disc. I have used anydvd before to remove copy protection so I guess I'll need help with that too as I figure I cant use it again. I'd prefer to download freeware, not torrents if possible. Any help would be great.