"Licenses for your media files are corrupted" or "License is either corrupted or not valid" error message when you try to play licensed media files (810422)

RESOLUTION

To work around this issue, restore the DRM system on your computer to a clean state. To do so, follow these steps:

Warning This procedure deletes all the current licenses for media files on your hard disk. To play your existing licensed media files, you may have to acquire and purchase a new license from the content provider.

1. Upgrade Windows Media Player to the latest version.
   
   For more information about how to obtain the latest version of Windows Media Player, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

   http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?ID=FH;EN-US;wmp

2. Turn on the Show hidden files and folders option in Windows. To do so:
   
   Note Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
   1. Start Windows Explorer.
   2. Click Tools, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
   3. In the Advanced Settings box, under Hidden files and folders, click Show hidden files and folders (if it is not already selected), and then click OK.
3. Find the DRM folder on your hard disk.
   
   This folder is typically located in the following location, as appropriate to your operating system, where drive is the drive on which Windows is installed:

   In Windows XP and Windows 2000

   drive:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM

   In Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (Me)

   drive:\Windows\DRM

   Note If you cannot find the DRM folder, the exact location of the DRM folder on your hard disk is stored in the following entry in the Windows registry:

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DRM\DataPath

   To find the location of the DRM folder on your hard disk by looking in this Windows registry entry, follow these steps:
   1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   2. In the Open box, type regedit, and then click OK.
   3. Locate, and then click the following registry key:

      HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DRM

   4. In the right pane, double-click DataPath.
      
      The location of the DRM folder on your hard disk appears in the Value data box. Note this location.
4. Back up your existing licenses. To do so:
   1. Start Windows Media Player, if it is not already started.
   2. Click Tools, and then click License Management.
   3. Under Backup and Restore Location, specify a folder on your hard disk where you want to back up the licenses.
      
      Important Make sure that you do not overwrite any existing backups. Select a folder that does not contain any previous backups.
   4. Click Backup Now.
5. Do one of the following:
   • If step 4 is successful and you can back up your licenses to the location that you specified, go to step 6.
   • If step 4 is not successful and you cannot back up your licenses to the location that you specified, delete the Drmv2.sst file that is located in the DRM folder on your hard disk. To do so:
     1. Locate the DRM folder on your hard disk. For more information about how to find the DRM folder, see step 3.
     2. Right-click Drmv2.sst, and then click Delete.
     3. When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.
     4. Repeat step 4. If you still cannot back up your existing licenses, go to step 6.
6. Change the name of the DRM folder to DRMbackup. To do so:
   1. Locate the DRM folder on your hard disk. For more information about how to find the DRM folder, see step 3 earlier in this article.
   2. Right-click the DRM folder, and then click Rename.
   3. Type drmbackup, and then press ENTER.
   4. Quit Windows Explorer.
7. Visit the following Microsoft Web site:

   http://drmlicense.one.microsoft.com/Indivsite/en/indivit.asp

   Follow the instructions that appear on your screen to update the security component of Windows Media Player.
8. Restore your existing licenses from the backup that you created in step 4. To do so:
   1. In Windows Media Player, on the Tools menu, click License Management.
   2. Under Backup and Restore Location, specify the folder where you want to restore your licenses from. This is the same folder where you backed up your licenses in step 4.
      
      Note If you could not successfully back up your licenses in step 4, restore your licenses from the most recent backup that you performed, if any.
   3. Click Restore Now.
9. Play a licensed media file in Windows Media Player.
   
   You can play your media files using the licenses that you restored if the restore operation was successful. If a message in your browser window prompts you to migrate your existing licenses, click Migrate to migrate your licenses.

Note After you perform the procedure in this article, when you try to play a media file you may receive the following error message:This issue occurs if the restore operation was unsuccessful. To resolve this issue, recopy the content from the original source (for example, the audio CD), or acquire and purchase a new license from the content provider.