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DRM-protected .WMA files.

dani 0 Reputation points
2026-03-06T05:53:22.7166667+00:00

Hello. I have some songs that I recorded years ago at home purely for personal, non-commercial use. These songs were burned to a CD and eventually ripped to a computer via Windows Media Player back when it would add DRM protection by default. I no longer have a physical copy of the CD and the computer they were recorded on is long gone.

The Digital Rights Update Tool does not work anymore and I cannot play the songs through any player to try and capture the audio. How can I remove the DRM protection from these songs that I recorded myself?

Windows for home | Other | Music, photos, and video
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  1. DaveM121 851.1K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-03-06T06:30:08.7533333+00:00

    On the Microsoft Store app, download the 'Digital Rights Update Tool' app that Microsoft provide and try using that tool to remove the DRM from files that were previously ripped with the legacy Windows Media player, that is the only official method provided by Microsoft.

    https://apps.microsoft.com/detail/9nblggh52q93

  2. Q&A Assist
    2026-03-06T05:53:36.7266667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    There is no supported way in current Windows versions to remove WMDRM protection from .wma files that were ripped with “copy protect music” enabled if the original CD and the original PC/licenses are no longer available.

    Relevant points from the documentation:

    1. WMDRM licenses are required to decrypt and play the protected .wma files. When a DRM-enabled player opens a protected file, it searches the local system for a valid license; without that license, the file cannot be decrypted or accessed.
    2. License backup/restore only works if the licenses were previously backed up from the original system (for example, via Windows Media Player’s License Management feature) and then restored on another PC. If the original PC is gone and no license backup exists, the licenses cannot be recreated.
    3. Microsoft no longer supplies new licenses for WMA DRM music after March 12, 2017, and WMDRM support was removed in the Windows 10 Anniversary Update and later. This also means tools and services that depended on WMDRM license acquisition (including the Digital Rights Update Tool) are no longer usable for new license operations.
    4. The Digital Rights Update Tool was specifically intended for files ripped from CDs with “copy protect music” enabled, but the documentation notes that WMDRM has been replaced by newer technologies and that WMDRM-based content will not play after the Windows 10 Anniversary Update.

    Given these constraints:

    • If the protected .wma files cannot be played on any existing device (because there is no valid license on that device and no way to reacquire one), there is no supported Microsoft mechanism to remove the DRM or recover the underlying audio.
    • Recovery would only be possible if there is:
      • A machine that can still play the files (with valid licenses present), or
      • A prior backup of the license files (Drmv1key.bak, Drmv1lic.bak, Drmv2key.bak, Drmv2lic.bak) that can be restored on a compatible system. Without one of these, the encrypted content cannot be decrypted.

    If no such machine or license backup exists and the Digital Rights Update Tool cannot process the files, the WMDRM-protected .wma files are effectively unrecoverable using supported Microsoft tools.

    References:

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