In general, this method is considered outdated, but if you have an older drive that isn't compatible with the newer 'LibreDrive' method of ripping, it may still be relevant for you. You can download a list of currently known hashed keys, which you can find through a quick web search. MakeMKV can't break the copy protection on its own, so you need a hashed decryption key for the disc in question. On some drives, you may need to perform one other step. However, if you have a 4K-friendly drive and want to rip a 4K UHD disc, you'll need to open MakeMKV and see if your drive is compatible with 4K discs-again, see the MakeMKV forum for more information. If you're only ripping traditional Blu-rays, that's all you need to do. Install MakeMKV and open the program, then enter the key when prompted (or enter it later under the Help > Register menu). You can purchase a license for $50 if you want to avoid this annoyance. You just need to use the latest beta key whenever it asks you to register, which is about once a month. Technically, it's only free while in beta, but it's been 'in beta' for over 10 years. There are other paid programs that offer more features, like DeUHD and AnyDVD, but we'll be using MakeMKV for this tutorial because it's free. MakeMKV is a program for Windows, macOS, and Linux that can rip DVD and Blu-ray discs into the versatile MKV video format. I used an LG WH16NS40 with patched firmware for the most recent version of this guide. You can read the most up-to-date drive for flashing new firmware here. This can be a bit nerve-wracking, but I've done it twice without breaking anything, so it can be done. You may have to flash custom firmware or roll back to an older firmware version in order to read those 4K discs.

If you already have a Blu-ray drive, you can poke around the MakeMKV forums to see if it's usable for 4K Blu-rays, or you can buy one of their recommended drives. Instead, you will want a regular Blu-ray drive that is considered '4K friendly.' Due to their enhanced copy protection, 4K UHD Blu-rays can't be ripped on most 4K Blu-ray drives. If you want to rip 4K UHD Blu-rays, however, your choices are more limited. Since most laptops don't come with disk drives anymore, you can either buy an external one that connects over USB, or install an internal one into your desktop-either is fine. In order to rip those movies to your PC, you'll need an optical drive that can read Blu-ray discs a DVD drive is not enough.

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