How to remove the DRM (Digital Rights Management) that Windows Media Player added to your WMA files when you ripped your music CDs.
Back in the day, when we were all busy ripping our audio CDs to our computers, we often used Windows Media Player to do the job. And why not? It was already installed on our machines and it worked.
Little did we know back then, that WMP was adding a form of DRM copy protection to every single track that we ripped.
And that’s what causes the “DRM protected streams are not supported” error messages that appear whenever you try to play a WMA file.
However help is at hand, Microsoft have released an app to remove DRM from your WMA files.
In this guide, I’ll show you how to get it and how to use it.
Common Error Messages Caused By DRM on WMA files.
These are just a few of the error messages that you might receive from different programs when trying to play copy-protected WMA files.
Can’t play. Try playing this with a different player. This application doesn’t have content usage rights. 0xc00d7186
Could not demux ASF stream: DRM-protected streams are not supported.
The only way forward is to remove the DRM from the WMA files.
Download The Microsoft DRM Removal Tool.
The Digital Rights Update Tool removes the DRM copy protection that was added when ripping CDs using Windows Media Player.
The Digital Rights Update Tool is produced by Microsoft and is completely free and safe to use. You simply download it from the Microsoft Store.
To get the Digital Rights Update Tool, either click the Windows Store icon on your Taskbar.
Or click the START button and type “store”, then click on MICROSOFT STORE at the top of the list.
When the Store loads up, click the search box and type “digital rights update tool“. When the app appears, left-click on it.
If you want to use this app across all your devices, you’ll need to sign into your Microsoft account. But you don’t have to. If you’d rather not, click No Thanks.
The Digital Rights Update Tool will download and install onto your computer.
Once it’s ready, click the LAUNCH button and to start removing the DRM from your WMA files.
How To Remove DRM From WMA Files.
With the app installed you can get to work removing the copy protection (DRM) from your WMA audio files.
When you ripped the CDs with Windows Media Player, it created folders for each album (CD). And most likely these folders will be in your Music Folder.
The Digital Rights Update Tool removes the DRM from any WMA files within these folders. All you need to do is to select the folders where you music files are stored.
Left-click the folder icon (button) in the Digital Rights Update Tool. Then navigate to one of the folders where your copy-protected WMA files are stored.
Don’t open the folder. Instead, left-click once on the folder to select it and then click the SELECT FOLDER button. The Digital Rights Update Tool works on the contents of the folder. you can’t select individual files. Pnly folders.
Start Removing DRM From WMA Files.
Once you’ve selected a folder, the app will search its contents looking for any WMA files that have DRM controls attached to them.
Any that do will be loaded into the app and those that don’t will simply be ignored.
To begin removing the DRM from your WMA files, click the PLAY button.
As each file is processed you can check its progress.
It may take some time depending on how many audio files you have and the speed of your computer.
When it’s done, it’s done.
Either close the Digital Rights Update Tool or load another folder and continue removing DRM from your WMA audio files.
Load One Album (Folder) At A Time.
Generally, I’d say do one album (folder) at a time. That way it won’t take too long to complete the copy protection removal. Loading several folders (albums) at a time will tie up your computer for quite a while.
I know that if you’ve got a lot of albums to work through it will become tedious doing them one at a time, but better that than have something go wrong.
What To Do When DRM Removal Is Completed.
The Digital Rights Update Tool doesn’t remove the copy protection from your original WMA audio files, it leaves those intact and untouched.
What it does is to create a copy of the original, the copy is the one with the DRM removed. Which means that you end up with two files for each audio file (song).
The original is then renamed as a backup file. If you want to, you can delete the backup files.
But make sure that you test all the audio files are working first.
About Deleting The DRM Protected Backup Files.
The audio files marked “backup” are still DRM protected, meaning you can’t play them. If you try to you’ll see the, by now familiar, error messages.
You could delete them out of the way. This’ll free up space on your system. Or you could store them in another folder or on a different device.
How To Quickly Delete The Backup Files.
To delete the backup files quickly, type backup into the folder search box. Then click the search arrow. Windows will show you all the backup audio files.
Left-click once on one of them to select it, anyone will do it, it doesn’t matter which one. Then press CTRL and the letter A on your keyboard. All the backup files will be selected.
With all the backups selected, right-click on one of them, again it doesn’t matter which one.
On the menu that opens, left-click DELETE.
Job done.
Removing DRM From WMA Audio Files – Summary.
Back in the day when we were all copying our CD collections to our computers, the program that was most often used was Windows Media Player. Unfortunately, when you used Media Player for the first time, you’d have to choose whether or not to add copy protection.
It seems obvious now that given the choice, you should choose no, but many of us just didn’t understand the implications of choosing yes. And secondly, the wording of the copy protection notice could have been clearer. As I remember it, the notice seemed to suggest that I was protecting my files from being damaged in some way. From becoming corrupted in some way or being deleted.
I’m sure a lot of people out there did exactly as I did for similar reasons.
Finally, with the Digital Rights Update Tool, Microsoft has given everyone the chance to regain control of their own audio files.
Keep Up With Home Computer Guides.
All the latest guides and articles published on At Home Computer delivered to your inbox.
No account needed, just add your email address.
