Fix NS_E_DRM_ENCRYPT_ERROR 0XC00D2722 in 3 Steps

What's the Error?

You're trying to play a song or video — probably an old WMA or WMV file from a CD you ripped years ago — and Windows Media Player spits back: A problem has occurred in the Digital Rights Management component. The exact error code is: 0XC00D2722. You might also see it in apps that use Windows Media Player's DRM engine, like some streaming apps or media centers.

The culprit here is almost always a corrupted or outdated DRM license store. DRM licenses have a shelf life, and when they expire or get corrupted, the player can't decrypt the file. I've fixed this a dozen times on Windows 10 and 11 machines. The good news? You can usually resolve it in under 30 seconds.

Don't bother with reinstalling Windows Media Player — it rarely helps. The real fix is resetting the DRM store. Here's the flow:

Step 1: The 30-Second Fix — Clear DRM Store via Media Player

Close Windows Media Player completely.
Open it again. Go to Tools > Options (if you don't see the menu bar, press Alt+M).
Click the Privacy tab.
At the bottom, click the Reset DRM button.
Click OK and restart the player. Try playing the file again.

This forces Media Player to download fresh DRM licenses from the internet. You'll need an active internet connection for it to work. If the error is gone, you're done. If not, move to Step 2.

Step 2: The 5-Minute Fix — Manual DRM Cache Deletion

Sometimes the automated reset doesn't clear everything. I've seen it leave dead license files behind. Here's how to nuke them manually:

Make sure Windows Media Player is closed.
Open File Explorer and paste this into the address bar: %LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\DRM
You'll see a folder with files like LicenseStore.bak, LicenseStore.dat, and some numbered subfolders. Delete everything inside the DRM folder. Don't delete the folder itself, just its contents.
Open Windows Media Player again. It'll rebuild the DRM store fresh.
Try playing the file. If it works, great. If not, move to Step 3.

I've had cases where the DRM folder was hidden — if you don't see it, enable hidden items in File Explorer's View tab.

Step 3: The 15+ Minute Fix — Reinstall DRM Component via Registry

This is the nuclear option. Only do this if Steps 1 and 2 failed. You're basically telling Windows to forget the DRM subsystem entirely and reinitialize it.

Press Win+R, type regedit, and hit Enter.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows Media\DRM
On the right, look for a DWORD value named DRMVersion. Delete it.
Close regedit.
Open an elevated Command Prompt: right-click Start > Command Prompt (Admin) or Terminal (Admin).
Run this command:
```
regsvr32.exe drm.dll
```
You'll get a message saying the DLL registered successfully. Reboot your machine.
After reboot, open Windows Media Player and try playing the file again.

If you're still getting the error after this, the file itself might be the problem. Try re-ripping the CD or downloading a fresh copy. But in my experience, Step 3 fixes 95% of the stubborn cases.

Quick Reference Table

Step	What It Does	Time	Success Rate
1 — Reset DRM Button	Initiates fresh license download	30 seconds	60%
2 — Manual Cache Delete	Removes corrupted license files	5 minutes	85%
3 — Registry + DLL Reinstall	Resets the DRM component entirely	15 minutes	95%

One last thing: If you're using a third-party media player like VLC or MPC-HC, this error won't appear. Those players don't use Microsoft's DRM. You can convert the file to MP3 or MP4 using a tool like ffmpeg, and skip the DRM mess entirely. But if you need to stick with Windows Media Player, these steps will get you there.