NS_E_DRM_DEVICE_LIMIT_REACHED (0XC00D28A3) - Device Limit Fix

You're trying to play a song or video you bought from the Windows Store, or maybe a protected WMA file in Windows Media Player, and bam — you get error 0XC00D28A3 with the message "The maximum number of devices in use has been reached." This usually happens when you've authorized more than five devices to play content protected by Microsoft's DRM (Digital Rights Management). Common trigger: you just got a new laptop, signed into your Microsoft account, and tried to play something you purchased years ago. Or you shared your account with family and now every device in the house is hitting the limit.

Why it happens

Microsoft's DRM keeps a counter of how many devices can play protected content tied to your account. The limit is five devices. When you authorize a new device (by playing protected content on it), it adds to that count. Old devices you don't use anymore still count toward the limit, because they never got deauthorized. So after enough upgrades, laptop replacements, or family sharing, you hit the wall. The real fix is to deauthorize the devices you don't need, which frees up slots. You don't need to re-buy anything.

Step-by-step fix

1. Open Windows Media Player. Not the new Media Player app — the old one. Search for "Windows Media Player" in the Start menu. If you don't see it, go to Control Panel > Programs and Features > Turn Windows features on or off, and make sure "Media Features" is checked. Then restart.
2. Switch to Now Playing mode. Click the "Switch to Now Playing" button in the bottom-right corner. It looks like a small rectangle with a musical note. After you click it, the player shrinks down to a small window with just playback controls.
3. Right-click the player window and select "Tools" > "Options." A menu will pop up — you'll see tabs like Library, Rip Music, Devices, and Performance.
4. Click the "Devices" tab. You'll see a list of all devices currently authorized to play protected content. Each device shows a name (like "DESKTOP-ABC123" or "My Phone") and a status (Authorized or Not Authorized).
5. Click a device you don't use anymore — an old laptop, a phone you replaced, a tablet you sold. Then click "Remove." A confirmation box asks "Are you sure you want to remove this device?" Click Yes. After you remove it, the device disappears from the list and the counter drops by one.
6. Repeat step 5 until you're down to five or fewer devices. If you have six authorized, remove at least one. I'd remove all the ones you don't recognize — that's usually where the problem lives.
7. Click Apply and OK to close Options. Then try playing the protected content again. If it was a video, song, or store app, it should start without the error.

If you don't see the Devices tab — that means Windows Media Player hasn't been configured to play DRM content yet. Play any unprotected media file first (like a random MP3), then go back to Tools > Options. The Devices tab should show up after that first playback.

What if the error still shows up?

Two things to check. First, make sure you're signed into the correct Microsoft account. If you bought the content on an old account, you're authorized on devices under that old account, not your current one. Sign out of the store and sign in with the account you originally used.

Second, if you removed devices but the count didn't drop, you might need to deauthorize a computer completely. Open a command prompt as administrator, type slmgr /dlv, and look for the "Device count" line. If it's still five, run slmgr /cpky to clear the product key cache, then reboot. After reboot, open Windows Media Player and remove devices again. This clears stale entries that don't show up in the list.

On rare occasions, the DRM store itself gets corrupted. If nothing works, go to %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\DRM and delete everything in that folder. Windows will rebuild the DRM store next time you play protected content. You'll have to re-authorize devices, but that's fine — just don't exceed five total.