Windows Media Player and Licenses

Is anyone out there familiar with how to manage music licenses using Windows Media Player? If so, here is my question...but first a little background.

I have a network setup in my house (designed by my husband ). There is a server that all networked PC's can hit. On this server we keep our song files, so that we can play them from any PC in the house.

I've got a music file for which I have a license, and I have saved this file to the server. I downloaded the song from a service on the internet using computer "A". The song plays just fine using Windows Media Player (WMP) on computer "A".

Using WMP on computer "A", I I have backed up my license(s) to a folder on the server. The question is how do I get this song to play on other networked PC's? Using WMP on computer "B", I tried to "restore" licenses by pointing to the folder on the server, but I get a message saying there are no licenses to restore. What am I doing wrong? Or does my license prohibit me from playing the same song (the same file) on different PC's?

 

Were these songs that you ripped to a CD or songs from an Online store ?

In any case....the below Windows Media Player FAQ covers quite a few reasons\fixes since there are a number of scenarios concerning DRM.

This FAQ---> Using Protected Files (DRM)

 

Bubba,

Trying out the WalMart online store ($.88 a song - not bad!). Downloaded it directly to my server.

 

Perhaps you can try Walmarts Music Downloads General Questions concerning this issue.

How do I back up songs and their licenses to another computer?

 

Bubba,

Thanks for the quick response.

However, I've thoroughly read all the documentation prior to posting my question.

When I proceed through the backup process, the documentation states that four .bak files should be saved to the backup folder. However, only three are. For some reason "drmv2key.bak" is not created. I think this may be the problem, but I don't know what is causing it.

 

No problem....I was just going with the info you provided....which led me to believe otherwise.

"Or does my license prohibit me from playing the same song (the same file) on different PC's"

 

Yes, I apologize that I was not more clear.

I didn't find anything in the documentation that specifically says you CAN play the .wma file on two networked PC's. I was hoping that copying the license from one PC to the other would fix the problem.

As I mentioned above, I have the file residing on a server, and I CAN play it on networked pc "A", the same pc that downloaded the file AND the license. I wonder if I shouldn't have downloaded the file to pc "A" first, and then copied it to the server (if that would make any difference).

The documentation all seems to address the "typical" one-pc-in-the-house scenario. I was hoping to find someone at Wilders that knows how WMP creates / writes / reads license files so I can determine what I'm doing wrong.

 

According to WMP program Help documentation under Licenses\Overview....it appears sharing is out....which kind of backs up what Wal Mart mentioned in the first link provided above

"WMP Help:
You cannot copy and share licenses among different computers. If you copy a licensed file to another computer or give a copy of the file to another person, you or the other person will need to acquire a new license for that computer. This process starts automatically when you play the file on the new computer"

Also....under WMP program Help documentation you can view the License details....which supposedly spells out what type license you have.

"To view license details
Click a file.
On the File menu, click Properties.
Click the License tab.
Information about the file's license is listed in the License details box.

Note

You can also view license details by right-clicking a file, clicking Properties, and then clicking License."

I'll leave this last little tid-bit....and then leave you in the hands of those that have used this feature.

According to WalMarts Usage Rules(if I'm interpreting it correctly)....you should be able to do what you are wanting to do

"5. Usage Rules.
You may download music to a single computer. You may then transfer music files and backup license files to up to two (2) additional personal computers. You may play music an unlimited number of times on up to three (3) personal computers. You shall be entitled to 1) burn Products solely for personal, non-commercial use up to ten (10) times and 2) export Products solely to a portable device capable of playing Windows Media ™ Audio ("WMA") files such as a WMA-compliant MP3 player an unlimited number of times. WALMART.COM is a reseller to you and does not accept orders from music dealers, exporters, wholesalers, any businesses of any kind or other customers who intend to resell."

 

Not really, but I don't have a sound system that would take advantage of that kind of difference, if you know what I mean...

 

Yeah, I saw that, but technically the song (.wma file) is NOT moving between computers. It's staying on the same (1) computer - my server. I'm just using WMA on two different networked PC's trying to play the file.

All I see on the License tab are the words "Protected Content".

Agreed! I'm just struggling with my setup...

Thanks again!!

 

Spanner...You did it! I burned a CD that contained that one song, and then ripped it back to MP3 format. And that did the trick. It's just too bad I have to go through all this just to be able to play a song that I paid for.

I guess I need to invest is software that can convert .wma files into a .wav format on my PC without having to burn it to a CD. At least I don't think my versions of WMP or MMJB can do that.

Thanks again Spanner!

 

Thanks for the suggestions, Spanner. I'll check 'em out.