# Solved: Can't Play DRM Files



## Tunga (Oct 30, 2003)

I've had this problem for a few months now but it's only just occured to me what's happening.

Some videos from the internet will play, some won't. What I've just realised is that the issue is whether or not they are DRM protected. I think this is only occuring with WMV files (that's all I've come across with DRM anyway).

If I try to play a DRM protected WMV in a browser the player wil say "Connecting to media..." for around half a second then change back to "Ready" and nothing happens. I can do this repeatedly. Both IE and Firefox do the same thing.

If I download the file and try to play it in WMP, Winamp, VLC or MPC, they will all give an error message that the file is corrupt or not a valid media file or something similar.

I can't seem to reinstall WMP because I'm on Vista and there's no standalone install available for it. I tried reinstalling codecs with a few different packs (AllInOne, Defiler, K-Lite) but that didn't help. I tried updating the browser plugins and other players but the fact that none of these will play suggests to me that this is a deeper problem.

So now I'm stuck. I don't know enough about DRM to guess why this would be happening. Any ideas? Someone said an OS reinstall would likely fix this but obviously I'd like to try other things first. Also note that the DRM thing is 'as-far as I can work out' so maybe it's something else special about these videos, but I'm pretty sure it's only DRM files that are doing this.

Windows Vista Business
Intel E6750
MSI P35 NEO-F (using onboard sound)
2GB PC6400 DDR2
8800GTS 320MB

(EDIT: Just noticed this thread, sounds like the same problem, no solution found there yet either: http://forums.techguy.org/multimedia/665453-windows-media-player-doesn-t.html)

Thanks.


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## sup2a (Oct 9, 2007)

yes as far as im concerned DRM protected WMV or A files aren't supported by many programs. ill do some research and get back to you


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## Tunga (Oct 30, 2003)

Well these videos play fine on my other PCs and at work/uni, it's not normal for all DRM files to be broken  .


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## Tunga (Oct 30, 2003)

Start -> Run -> "services.msc"
Right click Windows Media Player Network Sharing if it's there, and select Stop.

XP: Documents and Settings -> All Users -> DRM -> *Delete Everything In Here*
or
Vista: ProgramData -> Microsoft -> Windows -> DRM -> *Delete Everything In Here*

Start -> Run -> "services.msc"
Right click Windows Media Player Network Sharing if it's there, and select Start.

I was trying this to fix an entirely unrelated problem when I realised that I was deleting my corrupt DRM components and guessed it would fix my video problem - it did.


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