Free Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012! [48-hours only]

Note: This promotion was originally posted about in Dec-11. That particular promotion has ended and a new promotion of the same software is available, hence I have brought republished this post. Sorry to whoever gets double notifications!

Software Description

The following is a description of Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012, as per the developer:

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 comes with a great package of features

Burn and update data discs
Burn data to CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray Discs and update previously burned discs by adding and removing files and folders.

Backup your data to single or multiple discs
Backup your valuable data to one or more CDs, DVDs or Blu-ray discs. Single backups can span multiple discs. Restore your backups in a single, easy operation.

Burn video discs
Burn Blu-ray Discs in HD or full HD format as well as DVDs and CDs from prepared video folders.

Rip and burn audio CDs
Rip audio files from CDs and burn audio files to audio CDs and MP3 or WMA discs on CD, DVD or Blu-ray Disc in a variety of formats. Encoders for all supported formats included.

Copy CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs
Just insert a disc, select ‘Copy’ and make a perfect copy.

Create and burn disc images
You can both create and burn ISO, CUE/BIN and Ashampoo’s own special ASHDISC image formats.

Erase rewriteable discs
Quick and easy erase functions for reusing rewriteable discs.

Expert burning functions for full control
Burning experts can create modified copies of existing discs (read in data structure and make changes and additions) and burn discs of all kinds with full control of all main configuration options.

Create covers, labels and booklets
The full-featured cover and label designer prints to labels or directly to printable discs. It comes with a selection of point-and-click themes for instant results and easy-to-use creative tools for designing your own covers, labels or booklets.

dotTech Advice

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 is another in the line of Ashampoo disc burning suite freebies. As with all previous similar freebies, do not confuse Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 with Ashampoo Burning Studio 10 or 11. Even though the name may be a bit misleading, Ashampoo Burning Studio 10/11 are the commercial versions that have more features than Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012. In other words, Ashampoo Burning Studio 10/11 have all the features of Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 and more.

Now that does not mean Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 is bad. It isn’t bad at all. Indeed Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 provides a good range of disc burning functionality. However, these features are not very unique — they are found in other disc burning software, too. Anyone that is happy with their fully functional and fully-featured burning tool, like Nero, will have little use for Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012. However, for anyone that is looking for a burning utility, Ashampoo Burning Studio 212 is definitely worth a look. Keep in mind, though, one major feature Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 lacks: It can burn movie DVD0 (and Blu-rays), but it cannot author movie DVDs (and Blu-rays).

When you burn a movie DVD you are simply putting DVD compliant videos (i.e. .VOB) onto a DVD; if you burn non-DVD compliant videos onto the DVD, like AVI or MP4, the DVD just acts like a VCD instead of a proper DVD. When you author a movie DVD you take non-DVD compliant videos (i.e. AVI, WMV, MP4, etc.), convert them to DVD compliant format (i.e. .VOB), and burn them onto a DVD. In the process of authoring a DVD you may also be able to create custom DVD menus depending on which software you use. If you are looking for a product to author movie DVDs, check out DVD Flick, DVD Styler, or WinX DVD Author.

Finally, it should be mentioned there doesn’t appear to be too many differences between Ashampoo Burning Studio Elements or Ashampoo Burning Studio Advanced 2010. In fact I couldn’t find any differences so if there are any differences they are very minor. Thus if you already have any of the previous two software, you don’t need to grab Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012.

Freebie Details

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 is being given away in a promotion by DownloadCrew. This promotion ends Saturday March 10, 2012 23:59 European Standard Time; and, according to DownloadCrew, you must install and activate Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 by then.

To get Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 for free, do the following:

Version being given out for free: v10.0.15 Build

Free updates: Unknown

Free technical support: Unknown

Supported OS: Windows XP/Vista/Win7

Download size: 58.1 MB

Visit the registration page and enter your e-mail address:

After you enter your e-mail address and hit Request full version key, what happens next will depend on if you have an existing account with Ashampoo or not:

Existing Account

You will be asked to login using your password:

(If you cannot remember your password you can try to recover it or just create a new account with a new e-mail address.)

Once you login you will be asked to fill out a form:

The important thing to note here is that the form is optional. You are not required to fill it out. You can click the “Not now” button and bypass it. Unless you really want to give Ashampoo your personal information, I suggest just bypassing the form.

Once you either submit or bypass the form, you will be given the registration key for Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012:

Copy the registration key — you will need it soon.

New Account

You will be shown a screen similar to the following after you enter your e-mail address:

This screen is simply telling you that you need to confirm your registration. Go check the inbox of the e-mail address you registered with. Look for an e-mail from Ashampoo (MrReg@ashampoo.com) with the subject of Confirmation link for your email address. In this e-mail there is a link you need to follow to confirm your e-mail address:

Once you visit the link, you will be asked to fill out a form:

The important thing to note here is that the form is optional. You are not required to fill it out. You can click the “Not now” button and bypass it. Unless you really want to give Ashampoo your personal information, I suggest just bypassing the form.

Once you either submit or bypass the form, you will be given the registration key for Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012:

Copy the registration key — you will need it soon.

Visit the Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 promotion page and click on the Download button to download the program:

After the download has finished, install Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012. During installation, there are two things you need to take note of:

You will need to register Ashampoo Burnin Studio 2012 during installation using the license key you received earlier:

Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 comes bundled with MyAshampoo Toolbar — be sure to uncheck all the MyAshampoo options during installation if you don’t want any crapware:

After installation has finished, run Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012 and enjoy!
Note: If you are on Vista or Win7 you will be prompted to install Ashampoo Burning Studio 2012’s desktop gadget:

If you want to install it, go ahead. If you don’t then don’t. It is your choice — you are not required to do so.

Note: You will get popup messages telling you to upgrade to Ashampoo Burning Studio 11 or 10. Free updates are not part of this freebie. If you upgrade you will either have to pay or you will be using trials. So I suggest hitting the No Thanks button to reject the upgrade and not be notified again: