WMP and DRM

I am trying to play a digital copy of a movie, which is giving me the following before it will allow me to input the code:

You must upgrade security components of Windows Media Player so you can play protected files on your computer. To upgrade please follow the instructions below:

• Step 1: Click here to get the security upgrade.
• Step 2: After the upgrade is complete click the "Next" button below.

Now I click on the supplied link and get the download box greyed out:

Security component upgrade

This page lets you upgrade the security components of your digital media player so you can play protected files on your computer. To upgrade your security components, click Upgrade.



Note: When you click Upgrade, your computer will connect to a Microsoft-operated Internet site and send information about your digital media player, including a unique hardware identifier. No information will be sent that can be used to personally identify you or track your activities. Microsoft will then upgrade the security components of your digital media player to ensure that it runs with optimal security.

I have tried both IE and forefox browsers.
I have followed the instructions that I have found both on other forums, and on microsofts site itself to rename the DRM file, which actually screwed up my access rights on my pc somehow!
I do appear to have a drmv2clt.dll file, however through the hours of attempting to sort this issue I was advised somewhere along the way that I am missing the DRMClien.dll file which I dont have (is this a new naming feature for 7 or something?)
Does anyone know what could be the issue and how to resolve it please?

Thanks for your help

Hi there
I'm sorry that I can't answer your question - but you've run into the whole wretched problem with a lot of digital media.

What happens if your device with protected content on it is lost / stolen or you simply want a better newer player.

With old fashioned Vinyl / CD's and DVD's not a problem.

I'd suggest you try using something like VLC or google on how to "De - DRM" your content or how to extract the audio / video parts so as they can be played.

Surely if I BUY a film etc it's up to me on what equipment, where and how to play it.

Would you buy a Car with the caveat that you could only put SHELL Gas in it, only use Gas station A, and only fill up on Mondays and Wednesdays.

I think not somehow - but we meekly seem to accept DRM on multi-media which is virtually equivalent to the above restriction without a squeak.

Cheers
jimbo

Hi Jimbo45

Thanks for your reply. I know exactly where your coming from, the whole DRM thing is completly ridiculous. VLC plays it in garbled form but my next steps will be as you sugggested to look for some way to extract the DRM content, or to switch off the media player fuction in win7 and install a different version of media player and see if that helps. Not sure if this will create a new drm file which I guess is corrupt? There doesnt seem to be a way to delete and readd the media player already within win 7 other than turning it off :S not sure if then switching the media player back on will then work? Im probably completely off track...:S

The dvd company were no help LOL they just suggested "upgrade your media player and it will work!" Considering I advised them I was using the media player built into windows 7 they clearly had no idea....LOL.

I think Microsoft has made a decision to not allow DRM removal.

There are literally hundreds of video converts that remove the DRM projection.

They might not work in WMP (I never use it), but there are other video player that play It fine.

BTW what extension do these DRM files have?

As I asked earlier, what extensions do these protected files have?

The file extensions were wmv and I would like to retract what i said about the dvd company being rubbish LOL they have actually suggested lots of fixes, the first of which actually solved my issue! It turned out to be something really simple which I just hadnt thought of. These are the fixes that were suggested incase anyone else has a similar issue, as I found that there were a lot of forums out there with people having the same issue of the uprade option being greyed out:

To correct this issue, you could go to the security upgrade page directly, located here: Security component upgrade. Be sure to click the "pop-up" control in the window to allow the blocked content, otherwise the Upgrade button will not work.

On Windows 7 systems, if the Upgrade button is still not active, you may also need to do the following:

1. Launch Internet Explorer.
2. Select Tools from the top menu, and click Internet Options.
3. In the panel that pops up, select the Security tab.
4. Uncheck the option for “Enable Protected Mode (requires restarting Internet Explorer)”
5. Click Apply, OK, and close the Internet Explorer browser.
6. Restart Internet Explorer and go to the address Security component upgrade.
7. The Upgrade button should now be operational.

If that fails, you may need to remove/rename the DRM cache on your system and re-upgrade Windows Media security components. Here is how:

1. Close Windows Media Player, then go to My Computer, then to the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users directory. (Vista users, please go to C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows instead) If you don't see this, that's because it's a hidden folder. See below for instructions on how to set your folder view options to make this folder visible.
2. In this folder there is a folder called "DRM".
3. Select the DRM folder, and select File > Rename from the toolbar menu at top.
4. Rename the folder and hit Enter when done.
5. Reinsert the disc containing the Digital Copy feature, and select the Digital Copy option.
6. You will be prompted to upgrade Windows Media security components. Please follow the onscreen prompts to complete this upgrade process.
7. Once complete, the pop-up from the DVD should now display the fields with which to enter your authentication code, from the insert included with your DVD.
8. Proceed with entering the code and download the files to your computer.
9. Play back the files as normal in Windows Media Player.

Setting folder view options
Windows 7:
1. Click the Start button and select Computer.
2. In the window, click the Organize button, and select Folder and Search Options from the list.
3. In the Folder Options panel, select the View tab.
4. Under the Advanced Settings section, select the Show hidden files and folders option, and UNCHECK the "Hide protected operating system files (recommended)" option, then click Apply.
5. At the top of that panel, select the Apply to Folders option and click OK.
6. You should now be able to see the hidden files and folders in your directories.

To restore your original DRM licenses
1. Close Windows Media Player, then go to My Computer, then to the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users directory.
2. In this folder, find the folder called DRM.
3. Select the DRM folder, and select File > Delete from the toolbar menu at top.
4. In this same directory should be the older version of the DRM folder that you renamed previously.
5. Select this folder and rename it back to DRM. Hit Enter when done.
6. Your original DRM cache is now restored.

thanks for all your help with this

Hi

I have tried all the suggested fixes and still not getting any where the upgrade button still greyed out.