Hi all, my apologies if this is the wrong place or been covered before, but I'm new here
I downloaded all there was to download from npg music club and have loved it all. However, I had to reformat my hard drive recently coz of a virus (having backed everything up) and now can't play any of it...Windows media player connects to get 'media usage rights' but no longer granted. Is there anything I can do? Damn, I miss those tunes...
Fingers crossed X

You're screwed.

The first thing you should have done is burn them to CD, and then rerip them so you had an non-DRM copy of them. Otherwise, you'll not be hearing those files again. You're not the first person to state this problem.

That's exactly what I did. My pc crashed on me and I had to buy a new system. The tech was able to save the music, Allah be praised. Now, I have an external HD that can hold over 300 gigs of files. So I don't expect that to happen again. I feel for you though ...

PurpleLove7 said:

I my external hard drive

I think someone is fishing with their first post here!

jfrost said:

If your backup included the DRM license, then just download the newest version of Widows Media Player (11). The WMP will see the DRM and play the songs.

If you no longer have the DRM, but did pay for the songs, there should be no moral dilema about downloading the songs from other sources.



Don't ask me where that quote was pulled from. It's against the rules.

Hi and thanks for the suggestion. I'm using the latest WMP and it still tries to obtain the permission to play. I saved everything that I downloaded, so if the DRM (?) licence was downloaded with the files I should have it. What would it look like eg file name etc? You can probably tell I'm not a computer wizard!

squirrelgrease said:

C0mputerb1ue said:

It's embedded in the music file, and the file itself looks for the license clearance (if you will) online. The problem is that Prince and his genius didn't leave a license online at NPGMC.com for people to later access their music.

I'm shocked at the suggestion
Just trying to get back what I paid for....like lots of folk round here it seems. Cheers!

jfrost said:

Thank GOD I still have mine all saved, ripped and stored on external hard drives and cd's.

More new music please.

Sorry for ur Prince music loss this thread is cute It happened to me too

ernestsewell said:

Yeah, the site shutting down screwed up any chances for re-retrieval of the licenses.

That said, there was a license file that corresponded with your DRM-embedded wma files which had to be physically on your computer to make the music play.

To see where your DRM files are:

Start/Control Panel/Folder Options/Click Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide protected operating system files check box.

DRM locations by operating system:

Vista: C/ProgramData/Microsoft/Windows/DRM
Windows 2000 and Windows XP: C/Documents and Settings/All Users/DRM
Windows 98: C/Windows/All Users/DRM
Windows Millennium Edition: C/Windows/DRM

Note: Folder will be transparent, but clickable.

Put your backup files in this folder.

Hi everyone- thank you so much for all your feedback- MUCH appreciated! No success yet, but I'm working on it. Really liking this site...can't believe it's taken me so long to join in.
Take it easy, CB xx

squirrelgrease said:

Even if the file is DRM, can't you just drag them into a CD burning program and burn an audio CD of them anyway? That'd fix the problem, because the OP could re-rip them to their harddrive, thereby bypassing the DRM.

Sadly not...just tried, but the files don't 'qualify' as rights protected. Worth a try though!

ernestsewell said: