windows media player 10 licences??/sony walkman

hi!,a newbie here...hope im posting in the right forum!

ok anyway i got the new sony walkman which i spend nearly 300euro on!!! and now i cant transfer on my music, firstly windows media player 10 'encounters an error' any time i connect the decice and shuts down and wont let me transfer music through that way.

the only other way is through the connect player(the **** that came with the player) and this will not let me import my music as it is all protected!!

does any1 know of a way of 'unprotecting' my music collection so to speak?
or hav any links to sony walkman/wmp forums?

please ur help would be soooooo appreciated, coz a 20G music player with 3 sample songs on it is making me weep!
cheers
-louise!

KdjaCL

Dont use Windows media player.


You can drag and drop the files on or get use the dedicated program that comes with the walkman, try the sony website for a newer version.


kdjac

8T8

What model is it as you can use a program on Sony's site call MP3 file manager which is a dead simple GUI and avoid that Sonicstage crap (although I cant recall what file types it supports but from the name I would guess MP3's only).

As for the error with WMP not sure on that it should work, you have two ways of un-protecting your music;
1) Convert your files again into WMA without DRM or MP3 instead. Go into WMP10 tools/options and under one of the tabs is the option to not protect ripped music so untick it as MS ticks the box by default.
2) Use TuneBite which can strip the DRM from the files.

You may want to try Windows Media Player 11 as well it may clear up the transfer problems, the option to disable applying DRM to ripped tracks can be found under the rip music tab along with a selection of codecs - just pick MP3.

hey guys,
cheers for the replys...im still a little confused though!

ok firstly using the program that came with the walkman aint an option because the files are protected and all the rest,and not sure what you mean about the drag and drop system..

and as for 'unprotecting' my music, iv already unchecked that little box, but that just means that the music i rip in future will be unprotected? and what program do u use to convert files....and what is drm??:o

8T8

Okay DRM = Digital Rights Management, basically a means to limit what you can do with the music you purchased (a very nasty system that only benefits the record companies).

I not a 100% certain but the type of DRM that is used should be supported by your Sony player though I could not say with certainty that all Sony players support the Windows DRM.

I take it you ripped your CD's with WMP (Windows Media Player) by default WMP rips to the WMA (Windows Media Audio) format and applies DRM. Now that you have un-ticked the box for DRM it will no longer do that kind of thing which is good.

In the same menu where the tick box for un-protecting your music (disabling DRM) you should see the type of audio codec to use when ripping CD's under the format heading by default it is WMA so change it to MP3.

This of course will only apply to CD's you rip to your computer in the future but for the sake of it I would go through the process again and not bother trying to strip the DRM from the files you have already done as this can be a complicated procedure for a novice, plus re-doing your CD collection in MP3 will make them more portable as MP3 is pretty much the defacto format that is supported by everything.

In the event that you purchased your music online and the Sony player does not support the type of DRM that is used on those files your only choice is to strip the DRM from the files with the TuneBite software I linked to above.


Drag and drop means that you should be able to copy the files via Windows Explorer to the MP3 player without having to use a software program to do it. In order for this to work the MP3 player must show up as a hard drive in My Computer and the MP3 player support the type of audio you are copying to it.

You didn't say what model number the Network Walkman is as there is another means to transfer files to Sony devices.

To recap - install WMP11 - un-tick DRM - set rip to MP3 - redo CD collection in MP3 format & hopefully all should be well with transferring the files to your MP3 player.

so basically..as i feared,ill have to rip them all again?
ok i best get started,thankx for your help!!

oh and the model is the sony walkman NW-A1000 series/A3000

8T8

Deleted User wrote:

so basically..as i feared,ill have to rip them all again?
ok i best get started,thankx for your help!!

oh and the model is the sony walkman NW-A1000 series/A3000

Yeah ripping them all again to MP3 without DRM is the best method.

As for the NW-A1000 series/A3000 it doesn't seem to support the "Sony MP3 file manager" which is a very simple application that transfers MP3's to and fro from Sony devices so you will just have to keep your fingers crossed and hope WMP does the job.

However that said having looked at a few reviews on the NW-A3000 (20GB version which matches yours) they say the player does work properly with WMP unlike it's predecessor the NW-A1000 which is restricted to the awful Sony "Connect" or "SonicStage" software.

WMP interoperability may have been an addition to the firmware* of the NW-A3000 so you might want to update it to the latest version as well which can be gotten at this link.

* The software that runs on the Sony Network Walkman itself.

[It would be a good idea if it is working fine after all this to remove any Sony software you installed like Connect or SonicStage as they are not the most well behaved of applications]