The Hindu Business Line : Trouble with music, data CDs

My system configuration is Pentium 4 2 Ghz with 512 MB Ram/DVD Combo/80 GB Hard disk. Of late, some of my music and data CDs are not working. If I try to open the video (wmv) file,it displays this message: "Cannot render the file" or "Windows Media Player has detected that you are not connected to the Internet. Connect to the Internet, and then try again."

Please suggest a solution.

Shashikant

If you are not able to play some audio/video files, the problem may be due to the particular files being corrupted, or you have not installed the right codec to play, or the audio/video files are incorporated with view protection.

Nowadays, audio and video files come with a lot of formats with different compression. So you need to install the respective audio and video player to play these files.

On the other hand, you can also install a common player to play all these files.

With regard to your system, please check whether the matching codec is installed on your system.

A simple way to solve this problem is to install "K-Lite Mega codec" pack (freeware) that includes a collection of codecs and related tools. This also includes the "Media player Classic" player, which plays almost all audio/video, formats. You can download "K-Lite Mega codec" pack (size 30.9 MB) from the following URL: http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_Lite_Mega_Codec_Pack.htm. This includes one of the utilities "GSpot Codec Information" that identifies which video codec and audio compression method is used on files, whether the matching codec is installed, and more.

So with the K-Lite Codec Pack you should be able to play all the popular formats.

If you still have problems playing video files (wmv files), please check whether the files are DRM Protected files. DRM, which stands for digital rights management, is a technology used by content providers.

A file that is protected with DRM requires "media usage rights" to be delivered with the file. The media usage rights define how the protected file can be used. For example, a right may give you the permission to play the file on your computer (a play right), burn the file to an audio CD (a burn right), or sync the file to a portable device (a sync right).

If you play the DRM Protected CD/DVD it will prompt you to connect to the Internet and upgrade your DRM components on your computer. Once the DRM components are upgraded, it will prompt for credentials provided by content providers when you buy the DRM Protected CD/DVD. Only then will you be able to play the CD/DVD Videos.

To determine whether a file is protected, please Open Windows Media Player (9) - Select "View" menu - Go to - Media Library.

On the Title, Artist, Album bar, right-click and select "Protected" field. Now the Protected column also appears along with Title, Artist, Album etc. Now add the video file in the library.

If the file is protected, under Protected "Yes" will be displayed, otherwise "No" will be displayed. Or Right-click a file you are playing in the List pane, click "Properties", and then click the "License" tab. (called "Media Usage Rights" tab in Windows Media Player 11).

If the file is protected, the terms appear in the box that is displayed. If nothing appears in the box, either the file is not protected or the file is protected but the rights are not present on your computer. This way, we can ascertain whether the file is DRM Protected or not.

If you try both (Media Player Classic and No Protected files) then probably the files have got corrupted.

For more information about DRM, please refer

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/player/faq/drm.mspx?pf=true

Solution by M. Sampath

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