DVD43 4.6.0

DVD43 is a free Windows utility from the 2000s that ran in the background and removed the CSS scrambling from DVD-Video discs so other programs could read them.

Development stopped long ago, with version 4.6.0 as the last release of the main program.

On a modern 64-bit PC it usually will not run at all, and free maintained players already handle DVDs without it.

What DVD43 Actually Did

Most store-bought DVDs are encrypted with CSS, the Content Scramble System, and many are also locked to a region. Our guide to DVD region codes and CSS explains both in plain terms.

DVD43 installed as a driver and sat in the system tray. While it was running, players and copy programs saw the disc as if it had no CSS and no region lock.

The tray icon showed its state with faces: yellow for an empty drive, red while it worked on a protected disc, and green once the disc was ready. It never cost anything, and its makers asked people to use it only with discs they had bought.

The Two Files on Our Download Page

The first is DVD43 4.6.0, the original tray program. It was built for 32-bit Windows of the XP and Vista era, and on 64-bit Windows it typically stops with a not-compatible message.

The second is DVD43 Plug-in 1.0.0.6, labelled for 32-bit and 64-bit systems. It is not a standalone program but a component that only works inside copy programs written to accept it, and most of those are frozen as well.

The Old Windows 98 and ME Advice

Earlier versions of this page pointed Windows 98 and ME users to DVDFab. That advice is badly out of date, since Microsoft ended all support for both systems in 2006.

If you are still running one of them for an old setup, keep it offline. Nothing we would recommend today targets those systems.

Who Can Still Use It

Realistically, only someone keeping an old 32-bit Windows PC alive for a legacy DVD workflow. Everyone else is better served by the tools below.

The tell is your Windows edition. Every copy of Windows 11 is 64-bit, and so are almost all Windows 10 PCs, so DVD43 is the wrong tool on either.

How to Watch a DVD on Windows Today

Windows Media Player lost DVD playback with Windows 8, which is why so many people went looking for fixes like this one. A free player with its own DVD support is the simple answer.

• VLC Media Player plays DVDs straight from the drive, menus included. It is the one we suggest trying first.
• MPC-HC is a small, fast player that is still maintained. It suits older or slower PCs.
• MPC-BE carries its own decoders and opens DVDs as well as most video files.

None of them need DVD43 installed. More options are listed in the Media Players category.

Copying Discs You Own

The law matters more than the software here. In many countries, including the US and across the EU, getting around copy protection is restricted even for discs you paid for, so check the rules where you live.

For home videos and other unprotected DVDs, HandBrake converts the disc to an MP4 or MKV file. It is free and open source, and it deliberately does not read copy-protected discs.

MakeMKV copies a disc into a single MKV file without re-encoding, and it is free for DVDs. ImgBurn can save a home-made disc as an ISO image for safekeeping.

The rest of the disc tools on the site sit in the Media Backup category.

Quick questions

Download DVD43 4.6.0 if you still need it, or tell us what you used it for if you have history with it.