MakeMKV 1.18.4 Beta

The error that brings most people here reads "This application version is too old" or "evaluation period expired", and it is almost always the installer rather than the key.

MakeMKV 1.18.4 is the current build, and installing it resets that clock.

DVD ripping stays free permanently; Blu-ray and 4K UHD stay free for as long as the public beta key keeps rotating.

What MakeMKV Actually Does

MakeMKV reads a disc and copies the tracks you choose - video, every audio language, subtitles and chapters - into a single MKV file, with no re-encoding at any point.

Nothing is recompressed, so the output is a faithful copy of the original streams in a container any modern player opens. That is also why a two-hour Blu-ray rip lands at 25-40GB: nothing has been thrown away.

That size is the whole point if you want an archival backup rather than a phone-sized file.

Because MKV is an open container, the files play straight away in most current players with nothing else installed:

• VLC Media Player opens them on any platform without a single setting changed.
• mpv player is the lightest option if you want no interface in the way.
• MPC-HC suits anyone who wants fine control over audio and subtitle track selection.
• PotPlayer handles the lossless audio tracks a Blu-ray rip carries without extra setup.

If a track still refuses to decode on a lighter player, LAV Filters or the K-Lite Codec Pack gives Windows the decoders for the lossless audio and HEVC streams MakeMKV preserves.

Fixing "Version Too Old" and the Expired Key

There are two separate clocks here, and mixing them up is what causes most of the confusion.

The first is the build itself: every beta release carries a built-in expiry date roughly 60 days out, and once it passes, the program refuses to start work until you install a newer build. That is the "version too old" message, and no key will clear it.

The second is the public beta key, which the developer republishes on a rotation. When that one lapses you get "evaluation period expired" instead, and pasting the current key fixes it in about ten seconds.

Who MakeMKV Is For - and Who Should Look Elsewhere

It is the right tool in four fairly specific situations.

• You want an exact copy of a disc and you have the drive space to hold it.
• You are filling a home library for Kodi, Plex or Jellyfin.
• You want discs preserved before they scratch, rot or get lent out and never returned.
• Your laptop has no optical drive and the collection is sitting in a box.

It is the wrong tool if what you want is a compact MP4 for a phone, because MakeMKV does no compression whatsoever. The tell is simple: if the file size is the thing you care about, this is not the program.

The normal route there is two stages - rip to MKV here, then shrink the result with HandBrake, which reads MakeMKV output directly and re-encodes it to a far smaller H.264 or HEVC file.

If you only need to remux, retag or reorder tracks inside an existing MKV without touching quality, MKVToolNix is the lighter tool for that job.

And when a disc carries protection MakeMKV stumbles on, AnyDVD and DVDFab HD Decrypter are the maintained commercial fallbacks.

The full Media Backup category lists the rest, including BD Rebuilder for squeezing a Blu-ray back down onto a single disc.

Before You Install: What to Expect

The installer is setup_makemkv_v1.18.4.exe, about 15.5MB, and there are no configuration screens to wrestle with. Setup is tested on Windows 10 and 11.

Once it is running the job is mechanical, and the screenshots of the title-selection window show what you will be looking at.

1. Insert the disc and let MakeMKV scan the title structure, which takes one to three minutes.
2. Untick the audio languages, subtitle tracks and extras you do not want.
3. Point it at a folder with room to spare - 4-8GB for a DVD, 25-40GB for a Blu-ray, more again for 4K UHD.
4. Click Make MKV and leave it alone; a DVD takes 15-30 minutes, a Blu-ray 30-90.

Mac users want the dedicated MakeMKV for Mac build instead, which is the same program with native Apple Silicon support.

Quick questions

Download MakeMKV 1.18.4 and see how it handles your first disc, or tell us how you got on if you have used it before.