NS_E_DRM_MIGRATION_INVALID_LEGACYV2_DATA Fix (0XC00D2791)

Yeah, this error is a pain. You're trying to migrate DRM-protected Windows Media files — maybe from an old Media Center setup or a Vista-era collection — and Windows throws this 0XC00D2791 nonsense. The short version: your DRM license store got corrupted or has incompatible V2 data. Here's how to fix it.

The Fix — Reset the DRM Store

Don't bother reinstalling Windows Media Player or running SFC. Waste of time. The culprit here is almost always the drmstore.hds file — it's the local DRM database. Windows re-creates it automatically when you delete it.

1. Close all apps that use DRM — Media Player, Netflix app, anything playing protected content.
2. Press Win + R, type %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\DRM, hit Enter.
3. Look for drmstore.hds. If it's there, rename it to drmstore.old. If you see drmv2.lic or drmclien.lic, rename those too.
4. Now open Command Prompt as Administrator. Run these commands in order:

net stop Audiosrv
net stop ShellHWDetection
del /f /q "%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\DRM\*.*"
net start Audiosrv
net start ShellHWDetection

This nukes the entire DRM folder. Yes, it's safe — Windows rebuilds the files on next boot.

Reboot your machine. Try the migration again. Should work now.

Why This Works

The DRM store is basically a binary blob that holds license keys and content metadata. When you hit that 0XC00D2791, it means Windows tried to read V2 license data (the old-school Windows Media DRM v2 format) and found corrupt headers or mismatched GUIDs. This happens after failed migrations, partial file copies, or old Media Center backups that got nuked by system updates.

Deleting the store forces a clean slate. Windows Media Player re-creates the files fresh, and any future migration starts from scratch. The downside? You lose any locally-stored licenses — but if you're hitting this error, those licenses were already broken.

Less Common Variations

Sometimes the fix above doesn't stick. Here's what else I've seen:

1. Corrupted msdrm.dll or mfplat.dll

If the reset doesn't work, check system file integrity. Open admin command prompt and run:

sfc /scannow
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Then reboot. If that fails, download the Media Feature Pack from Microsoft (for N/KN versions of Windows 10/11). I've seen this error pop up on European SKUs missing media components.

2. Third-party DRM tools left behind

Old software like FairUse4WM or drm2wmv can leave junk in the DRM folder. Check %ProgramData%\Microsoft\DRM for files with weird names like {GUID}.lic. Delete anything that isn't drmstore.hds or drmv2.lic — yes, even if they look important. The cleanup script above nukes them all anyway.

3. Group Policy locking the DRM store

In enterprise environments, domain policies can lock the DRM folder. If you can't delete the files, check Group Policy for "Turn off Windows Media DRM" — it's under Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Media Player. If enabled, your admin needs to disable it.

4. Windows 10 version 1809 or older

Old builds after the 1809 update had a known bug where DRM migration failed with this exact error. The fix for that specific scenario was uninstalling the KB4471332 update or installing the latest cumulative update. If you're on a pre-1903 build, update Windows first.

Prevention

You can't avoid this entirely if you're migrating old DRM files — the format is deprecated and Microsoft stopped supporting it after Windows 7. But you can reduce the odds:

• Always migrate DRM content before upgrading Windows, not after. Do it while the old OS version is still running.
• Keep a backup of the DRM folder before any migration attempt. Copy %ALLUSERSPROFILE%\Microsoft\DRM to a safe location. If it fails, restore the backup and try a different tool.
• Don't use third-party DRM removal tools. They almost always corrupt the store. If you need to strip DRM, use legit methods — like re-downloading from the original store (Good luck with that in 2024).
• Convert your media to DRM-free formats. Seriously. Move to MP3 or AAC for audio, or H.264 for video. The DRM ecosystem is dead. Holding onto protected WMA files is asking for this error again.

One last thing: if you're on Windows 11 or newer, the legacy DRM stack might not even be installed. You'll need to enable Media Features from the "Turn Windows features on or off" dialog. Without it, the migration tool can't load the DRM engine at all — and that'll give you a different error code entirely, but worth mentioning.