How to Back Up and Restore Media Player License Files

Windows Media Player content that you download from the Internet or record with the CD Audio feature, that has Digital Rights Management enabled (which is enabled by default), has associated license files that you must back up periodically to ensure that content plays back in the event of a system restoration.

To Back Up License Files

1. In Windows Media Player, click the Tools menu, and then click License Management.
2. Select the folder where you want to back up the license information, and then click Backup Now. Microsoft recommends that you use the default location: My Documents.

When the Transfer Complete! dialog box appears, the licenses are successfully backed up.

The backup creates the following files:

• Drmv1key.bak
• Drmv1lic.bak
• Drmv2key.bak
• Drmv2lic.bak

Note By default, the files are hidden, so they may not be visible. For additional information about how to view hidden files, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

To Restore a Damaged or Unusable File

Note You must have a working Internet connection to restore your files.

1. In Windows Media Player, click the Tools menu, and then click License Management.
2. Click Restore Now. The player uses your Internet connection to verify your license information.
   
   When you receive a "Transfer Complete" message, the player has verified your licence information and restored the licenses.

You must also restore a license file to another computer to play back the protected content created on another computer. You can use these steps to back up the license files to a floppy disk, and then restore those files on another computer to play back the files.

The number of times that you can restore a license is limited. When you reach this limit, you cannot restore the license again. You must contact the content producer to restore them.