Opening Encrypted DVD’s with HandBrake

This article covers how to open encrypted DVD’s with HandBrake and libdvdcss for legal and educational purposes only.

Utilizing those two tools will help open DVDs with region codes and CSS encryption. Note, HandBrake with libdvdcss won’t work on DVDs encrypted with Disney X-project DRM, RCE, Sony ArccOS, etc.

 

How to Install libdvdcss on Windows for HandBrake

If you haven’t already done so, download and install the latest version of HandBrake from their official website. Official HandBrake URL: https://handbrake.fr/

Next download libdvdcss, which is part of the VideoLAN project, by clicking on “releases” under the Get libdvdcss section.

As of 2023-01-01 the latest Windows (32bit or 64bit) version is 1.2.12. You can traverse up to the root directory to see if any newer versions have been published.

Otherwise, download the libdvdcss-2.dll file and save it to your HandBrake installation directory, which should be (for 64bit version): “C:\Program Files\HandBrake”

You don’t have to rename libdvdcss-2.dll, simply cut and paste the downloaded libdvdcss-2.dll file into your HandBrake program folder.

 

Updating HandBrake & libdvdcss

If you ever update HandBrake, you will need to repeat the above libdvdcss installation. HandBrake updates will completely delete the default installation directory which would also contain the libdvdcss-2.dll file.

 

Conclusion

I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions on my article on how to open encrypted DVD’s with HandBrake & libdvdcss on Windows.

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