From an older LifeHacker article and tip form one of our readers, Conor, we’ve got a way for you to simplify the already streamlined DVDShrink process into something even less intense. Hack Attack author Adam Pash has created a few automation scripts that allow you to just enter the name of the DVD and send the program on it’s way. Getting setup is fairly simple as well so let’s get started.

Before we begin you’ll need to download a few items starting with DVDShrink which you can find in our previous article on using DVDShrink to store your collection. Also, you’ll need a copy of Autohotkey and the scripts created by Adam Pash. We’ve packaged them all together, for your convenience and to make sure we’ve got a copy lying around for posterity. Inside the zip file you’ll find the AutoHotkey installer as well as three hotkey scripts and the source code for the scripts created by Adam.

Once you’ve got DVDShrink and Autohotkey installed you’ll need to run DVDShrink once to get your initial settings in place. The process is fairly simple and once again you can go through it in it’s entirety with our previous guide to using DVDShrink.

Once you’ve done your initial run through of DVDShrink, as long as you’ve got AutoHotkey installed you should now be able to run one of the included .exe files to begin the process. Simply select the correct executable for the drive that you’ wish to process and enter the name of the movie. The Autohotkey script will take care of the rest.

The entire process is fast and simple, just the way we like it! With the provided source code and a little intuitive programming from the talented members of the Windows 7 Media Center community we might even be able to create a way to automate the entire process from inside Media Center. The addition of an on screen keyboard to enter the movie name and begin the script would be all that’s needed.

Hopefully an experienced MCML programmer will come forward to finally give us a simple solution to ripping disks from inside Media Center using nothing more than our MCE Remotes. For now that’s all there is to automating the DVDShrink process with Autohotkey and Adam Pash’s fantastic scripts.

As always, stick with Hack7MC for even more ways to make your Windows 7 Media Center really shine! If you haven’t already be sure to subscribe to Hack7MC with one of our many RSS Feeds or through Twitter!