Once Ripped, How Do I Play On My Laptop, (Windows)

[CurtisK]

After MakeMKV rips my DVD to a .iso file, how do I play it on my laptop?
Also, how do I convert it to a MP4 file so there is just one file to click and play, (and it's smaller)?

I greatly appreciate the guidance.

[dcoke22]

Most people would open the .iso file in MakeMKV and make .mkv files for the movie or TV show episodes on the DVD. VLC is a popular player. It'll probably even play from the .iso file assuming you made a decrypted backup with MakeMKV.

Handbrake is a popular choice as a transcoding tool. Most people prefer .mkv files to .mp4 files. Handbrake can produce either.

[Woodstock]

It is also unnecessary to convert to MP4, as VLC and most other players can handle MKV just fine. I'm currently ripping hundreds of disks again, and running the MKV files through handbrake to shrink them about 90% to make (smaller) MKVs, which can handle more subtitle types than MP4.