Four years ago I had all our old 8 mm home movies put onto a DVD by a
professional.  It is 2 hours long and has a lot of junk on it.  I
would like to edit this DVD (mainly clip out some boring or
unimportant stuff) and make copies of this edited version for
relatives.  I may make several different edits of this DV to better suit each
recipient.  I own the DVD and all its contents (i.e. I am not stealing
someone else's material) and to the best of my knowledge the DVD is
not copy protected.  I own a Sony Vaio with two DVD programs on it: 
"Clip to DVD" and "DVGatePlus."  I cannot make either of these programs
work for me.  I called Sony and they said I could not use these
programs unless I "stripped" the original DVD to my hard drive in
mpeg2 format(I think that is what they said).  Then
I might be able to work with it, but no guarantees.  I'm not sure the
guy on the other end of the phone knew what he was talking about,
because he could not/would answer my follow up questions. 
I've looked at my two DV programs and I can't figure out how they work.  I also
own a limited version of Nero 6 which came with one of my new Sony DVD
writers (but this doesn't seem to be useful for this either).  I've
heard that the 2
Sony DVD programs are great, but at the moment they aren't so great
for me if I can't use them.

Therefore, I need very detailed step by step directions on how to do
what I want to do.  I have intermediate computer skills and don't know
all the lingo (like "strip the DVD" or mpeg2, mpeg3, mpeg4), so use
simple directions.  If I need to buy or download any more programs
please tell in detail what I need to do.  I would prefer to use the
programs I have or download some free programs.  If I have to buy a
program, let's keep it simple and not too expensive.
Thanks.

Copying DVDs can be illegal in some cases, and I doubt Sony employees
are given much instruction on how to copy DVDs regardless of the
situation. You should always check first with local laws, to make sure
what you're doing is legal. In some areas it's not legal at all, only
if it's not copy protected or if you have written permission from the
professional who made your disc.

You can "strip", or convert, a non copy protected DVD into MPEG freely
and easily using VideoLAN Client (http://www.videolan.org/). First
download and install VLC.

1) "Browse" your DVD drive and select the video file from the DVD.
This is usually in a folder with the word VIDEO in it.
2) Right click the file and select "Add to VLC media player's Playlist".
3) Click stop in VLC Player, Select File, then Wizard (or CTRL+W).
4) Select "Transcode/Save to File", and click Next.
5) Select "Existing Playlist Item". then select your file. If you want
to copy only part of the file, you can select "Enable" under "Partial
Extract".
6) Click "Next".
7) Select "Transcode Video", then MPEG-2 Video as the codec. The
bitrate should default to 1024, you can adjust this for higher or
lower quality video.
8) Select "Transcode Audio", then MP3 as the codec. Again, the bitrate
can be adjusted with varied quality.
9) Click "Next".
10) Select "MPEG PS" as the Encapsulation Fortmat, and click "Next".
11) Click the "Choose" button, then select a location to save the
file. You can use a ".mpeg" extension for your file.
12) Click "Finish".

The file will start "Streaming" as an MPEG file to your hard drive. A
countdown timer will appear in the bottom left hand corner of VLC,
showing the elapsed time and total time. When the file is complete,
you can play it in Windows Media Player, or any MPEG viewing / editing
programs.

for editing i would recommend adobe's premier pro.  I believe they
have a trial version available that allows you to use it freely for 30
days.