Upgraded CPUs, Windows Media Player and Center now broken

  • Thread starter Thread starter MBO
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M

MBO

I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate x64 and upgraded my CPU to an E8400 from a
6400 Core 2 Duo. This increased the bus speed to 1333 Mhz. It appears that it
has broken both WMP and WMC. Is there any way to repair this without
reinstalling Windows Vista?

Thanks for any help.

MBO
 
What kind of errors are you getting? It shouldn't have any effect on those
at all.
 
Hi Dustin,

Thanks for the follow-up. That's what I keep thinking. The main problem is
with Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center. Almost all of the
services related to that stop working, generating an error.

I'm using the Intel DP935DP motherboard, with some PC6400 DDR2 RAM (4 GB).
The new CPU increased the bus speed to 1333 Mhz, and now I'm wondering if the
system RAM (800 bus speed) is not handling this well or if there's another
problem.

The E8400 CPU has a much larger onboard cache (at 6 MB). Even with that,
there also seems to be lot more access to the hard drive that seems to slow
down the system, even though the Windows Experience Rating for the CPU went
from a 5.0 to a 5.7, which is a substantial jump.

Thanks again for the follow-up.

MBO
 
Do you have any trouble playing games? Media center seems to use a lot of
CPU, and it may be challenging your RAM. You might check your BIOS and see
if you can run the RAM at a lower speed than the FSB... Also, what are your
CPU temperatures? Heat could be an issue, if the heatsink isn't properly
attached, or fan is blocked, etc.
 
Hi Dustin,

I'm finding some interesting information by doing a search through Google.
It appears that this is a DRM related problem. Some people who have done
exactly the same thing have fixed it by clearing the cache in a DRM folder
that is supposed to be located in the:

c:\programdata\microsoft\vista\drm

folder.

My problem is that I can't find a DRM folder on my C: drive (where Windows
Vista Ultimate is installed) anywhere. I know it has to be there somewhere.

Apparently it can also be in a:

c:\programdata\microsoft\windows\drm

folder, but I haven't been able to find that one, either. Maybe ultimate
puts that folder somewhere else.

Apparently, clearing the cache folder in one of those two directories
resolves the problem. That would be great if I could find it. It would let me
avoid reinstalling Windows. This is kind of a nonfunctional (for wont of
using an expletive) way of handling DRM. Arghhhh.

Thanks again for your help so far.

MBO
 
The directory is a hidden directory? Do you have your folder options to
display hidden files & directories?
 
Hi Dustin,

I sure do. That's kind of what's driving me nuts about this. Do you have
this on your system?

I hate to say it, but I may (hopefully not) have to reinstall Windows.
Arghhhh.

Thanks again.
 
Try an in-place upgrade instead.

MBO said:
Hi Dustin,

I sure do. That's kind of what's driving me nuts about this. Do you have
this on your system?

I hate to say it, but I may (hopefully not) have to reinstall Windows.
Arghhhh.

Thanks again.
Click to expand...
 
Howdy Colin and Minus19,

Thanks for the suggestions. I'm already using Windows Vista Ultimate (via
Anytime Upgrade), so I'm thinking that Minus may be right. If I can't find
where that DRM file is stored, I may have to reinstall Vista.

The whole key is that DRM cache file. It apparently looks at the CPU
identifier as proof that the music is on one and only one computer and not
being moved to another. That is a pretty flaky way to manage DRM since many
people upgrade their CPUs over time. Unfortunately, it then disables anything
to do with Windows Media Player and Windows Media Center.

Thanks again,

Monte
 
I finally figured out the problem with the help of the Microsoft KB. (The
solution was easy.)

I had "Show Hidden Files and Folders" selected under the View tab of the
Folder Options dialog box. I had to uncheck "Hide protected operating system
files"

Once I did that, I was able to see the DRM folder under the
:localdisk/programdata/microsoft/windows path.

Once I was able to see the cache folder inside the DRM folder, I deleted its
contents, and all was OK.

I hope this helps someone else. Fortunately, no reinstallation of Vista was
necessary, though finding this solution was a bit of a PIA.
 
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