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Hi all,
All of my media programs(media player,real player, winamp,) etc all of a sudden stopped working. they all pop up the same window saying "has encountered a problem and needs to close". i did see a 'DRM.exe problem when trying to re-install media player, but other than that the error is pretty generic.I dont know if it would be related, but the only change ive made has been replacing my processor last week. anybody have any ideas?
any input would be appreciated!

Thanks

DRM.EXE is Cloaked malware:

sometimes it is signed by macromedia inc, which is safe organisation.
you should do a spyware /virus scan.

if it is not detected do a search of your system and delete it, you brobably have more infections.

Click Start->Run and enter dxdiag

It'll take a few seconds but a window should appear. Notice the progress bar in lower left corner. When it completes click the Save All Information to a .txt file on your Desktop. Then attach that file using the paper clip icon and post it back here so we can have a look

/******** Edit **********/
And look for malware as pcaceit advised

/******** Edit2 *************/
Will correct that last statement, do the malware check first. Thanks pcaceit

I will do that....thanks for taking the time

thanks again, any help would be appreciated.

Attached Files

DxDiag.txt (56.9 KB, 6 views)

a new wrinkle here, I attempted to do a system restore to a previous date and it told me that it cannot restore to that date. then i tried half a dozen other restore dates and all to the same result. chkdsk scanned my HD's and said that it found sectors that were marked as 'free space' that were actually allocated and fixed. caould this be the reason for all this? if so, why does any media player still not work on a new install??? i clipped my DXDIAG to my last reply. Help please.

Thank you

If you have a clean instal and your media players still crash, Then this indicates that there must be some problem with your Hardware, (or how you set op your media properties) Probably your Sound Card.

Make sure you are using Latest Sound card drivers.

If you still have problems you should probably try a different sound card or just remove it and juse onboard sound if your system has it.

Have a look at your Event logs for applications and system
it will tell you why the applications crash you can post the events if you like.

Right click my computer click properties and select manage > Event viewer > application (on vista select windows logs first)

Good morning all. (Or whatever time of day it happens to be in your part of the world)

pcaceit: Thanks for catching DRM.EXE yesterday

red1776: I received the DxDiag.txt file but haven't look very close at it yet as you should really first give your machine a thorough scrub for malware with UPDATED 8-step Viruses/Spyware/Malware Preliminary Removal Instructions

Once we know you're squeeky clean (and if you're still having problems) best to generate that file for me again and will start through after the scrubbing

14.17 here in london uk and it a glorious sunny day !WOW! for uk.

HI again guys,
I am in fact running onboard audio and there has been no change in audio devices during this. I ran ms malicious software removal,avg, and Ad aware, and found no maleware. one correction: I mispoke about DRM.exe. what popped up was a problem with Drm migrate. I have found that I can play an mp3 and hear it with the ".......has encountered a problem and needs to close" but as soon as I close the error box, media center closes completely. again its the same thing with all my audio media apps, realplayer,winamp, media player, etc. and everything else works fine. is it possible that reset drm has anything to do with this?
DXDIAG looks the same after a clean re-install......help
Thanks PCaceit, and Justlookin around.

Haha... Glad to hear you don't use any add-on sound card 'cuz i didn't see any listed! (so i had been wondering)

Do you continue have DRM issues? How have you attempted the migrate?
Were you using this link? (click here)

If not, it may solve DRM issues.

Hey Lookinaround, thanks for your continuing response. I went to the link that you sent, however, when i get there the 'upgrade button is greyed out. i went and found the upgrade and it told me that i already had a newer version installed. I still am having the same issues, but I really dont understand what 'migrating' does, thats why im stuck. I did look up my auto update history on microsoft.com and saw that on the 10th it downloaded 2 media player updates (same day i discovered this problem) and ms has been no help. I guess i need to understand what kind of issue this is so i have a place to start. if you could spare a little more time and let me know what DRM and migrate are......and why they dont like me! LOL, i would be grateful.

Thanks

Hey, i'll hang in there with you to try and get this fixed (or i run out of ideas!)

(am trying to dig thru and learn some of the gory technical detail myself along the way)

DRM is Digital Rights Management is basically how they try to manage illegal copy and distribution of media files. And apparently as Windows OS changes the way it handles DRM, it must also change your "digital rights" to things has to be changed or "migrated" to work with the new methods.

As to "why you?" I still don't know!

But if it helps make ya feel any better you're not the only it's picking on (from what i find online)

So..... some questions...
1. <snip> never mind this question... glanced at the wrong file!
2. You mentioned the MS updates on the 10th... does it indicate the KB or other info to say which updates?
3. What version Media Player you using?

<snip original text> and click here


/*********** Edit ******************/
And let me provide you this link (will guess it's a fit)

And darn, just went back to re-read your first post. Ohhh.... I didn't recall it was linked to an install but thinking startup. Uninstall and try re-installing. copy the error msg and indicate the version

Hi Guys! Wow this one tough.

Oher thing comes to mind is the media device mappings

have you tried changing which device sound is mapped throug Ie..windows audio synth, or the mb's divice's?

Hey Lookin,
Thanks for that link. I tried the renewing of that dll file and it didnt change anything,but, it said it was for an issue with MP 8.1. anywho, you asked some questions and for some info, here it is.
Im using Mp 11 and the newest versions of Realplayer,winamp etc. I have clipped some of the error logs from event viewer on this post. and here are the MS auto updates that installed on the 10th.
KB929399
KB939683
KB936782
KB941569
KB954156 (this one failed to install)
Also, I Tried Playing a retail CD and it does the same thing (has encountered a problem and needs to close)

Thanks lookin

Attached Files

log.txt (22.4 KB, 1 views)

Which link you refer to?

This is the one a couple posts back (maybe you saw it before the snip)

Re: Windows Media PLayer 11 DRM Migrate EXE Errror

Oh sorry, I meant the one that suggested to renew tha wppui.dll. Thats the one i tried. it did renew it successfully, but i still got the error message when i restarted.

Did the error log attachment come over ok?

Thanks lookin

yep. got it.

won't be able to look into any of it for awhile tho

the media player 11 DRM link above suggests a (somewhat) involved fix. Haven't been able to look into that one in depth as to see if maybe a simpler underlying problem

btw.. one thought i did have.. was finding the DRM folder (it's probably a hidden file u need first expose via Explorer->Folder Options->View and dispay system files and hidden etc.
And check folder permissions on everything.

if u can wait (maybe a few hours maybe tomorrow) i can look at stuff u provided if a simpler thing to try

Yeah I had a similar thought along those lines, there is a 'DRM renew" file in there im going to take a look at. and dig into the forum links you sent over. and hey, any help is appreciated whenever you can.
your the man........or woman.......your the person! LOL

Thanks again Lookin,