Microsoft KB Archive/301082

= The Digital Rights Management System Does Not Work If the CPU Is Changed =

PSS ID Number: 301082

Article Last Modified on 6/5/2003

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The information in this article applies to:


 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows XP
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows 2000
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows 98 Second Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 9 Series for Windows Millennium Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player for Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player for Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 7.1
 * Microsoft Windows Media Player 7

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This article was previously published under Q301082





SYMPTOMS
The Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on a computer may not work if you change the CPU. You may receive the following error message:

The license to play the packaged media is invalid.



CAUSE
This issue occurs because the DRM system maintains an internal hardware identifier (ID) that is based on the CPU ID of the CPU in the computer. If the CPU is changed, the hardware ID that DRM maintains does not match the CPU ID of the new CPU. In this case, DRM does not work because this discrepancy causes DRM to determine that there has been an unauthorized attempt to move DRM-protected content to another computer.



RESOLUTION
To work around this issue, restore the DRM system to a &quot;clean&quot; state.

If Windows Media Player is installed, upgrade to the latest version of Windows Media Player before you restore the DRM system to a clean state.

To restore the DRM system to a clean state:  Ensure that the licenses were backed up (in Windows Media Player, click License Management on the Tools menu) to a disk before the CPU was changed. If there was no backup, install the old CPU on the computer, and then back up the licenses. Delete all of the files in the DRM folder. Note that the DRM folder is a hidden system folder. You may have to click Folder Options on the Tools menu, click View, and then:  Click Show hidden files and folders. Click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box.

The typical location of the DRM folder is:  In Microsoft Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM</li> In Microsoft Windows 2000: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM</li> In Microsoft Windows 98: C:\Windows\All Users\DRM</li> In Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me): C:\Windows\DRM</li></ul>

If you have any doubt about the location of the DRM folder, the exact location of the DRM folder on the computer is stored in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\DRM\DataPath

</li> Restore the backed up licenses in Windows Media Player by clicking License Management on the Tools menu. Note that this step requires a connection to the Internet.</li></ol>

Additional query words: wmp 7.00 mediaplayer drm broken

Keywords: kbenv kberrmsg kbHardware kbprb KB301082

Technology: kbWinMediaPlayer700 kbWinMediaPlayer710 kbWinMediaPlayer900Series kbWinMediaPlayer900Win2000 kbWinMediaPlayer900Win98SE kbWinMediaPlayer900WinME kbWinMediaPlayer900WinXP kbWinMediaPlayerSearch kbWinMediaPlayerXPHome kbWinMediaPlayerXPPro kbWinMediaPlayerXPSearch kbZNotKeyword

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