AJ's blog

Recently, I made the mistake of upgrading some of my software. I won't say what software it is, but let's just call it Shmindows Media Player. When I found out that some of my 'other software' wouldn't work with this version number, let's say, version 11 of Shmidnows Media Player, I was very upset.

So I decided to do a system restore to the day before I installed it. I don't know if that is the best method, but that's how I did it. I now had Shmindows Media Player 10 again. :)

But all was not well. Shmindows Media Player installed some files on my computer that the system restore didn't take care of, and this 'other software' still didn't work. So I looked around on the internet, and I heard from several sources that I had to delete the 'DRM' folder located here: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\DRM

However when I went and looked in that folder, I did not see a 'DRM' folder. Further investigation told me that I had to have the 'show hidden files and folders' option enabled. I did this, but I still did not see the DRM folder. I figured, that this solution must not work with my operating system. But after some tinkering, I found the solution...

The solution is to make sure that the 'Hide protected operating system files' checkbox is unchecked. To do this, in your file viewer, click 'Tools' from the menu bar, and choose 'Folder Options...'. A dialog box will pop up. Choose the 'View' tab. Scroll down through the settings list, and un-check the 'Hide protected operating system files' checkbox; a warning alert will pop-up saying that deleting these files could mess stuff up, but just click yes to proceed. You should also make sure that the 'Show hidden files and folders' option button, is selected while your here.

click OK to close out of the dialog boxes, and the 'DRM' folder should now be visible in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users folder.