How to Convert DRM to a Sony Walkman

Upload protected music to your Sony Walkman

DRM, or digital rights management, is a specialty technology used on audio files that controls the way the files are distributed. Depending on how the file is written, the DRM only allows certain rights to the file (a "play right" to play the file on a computer or device, a burn right to copy the file to a CD or DVD and a sync right to upload the file to your MP3 player). If no sync right is provided, you can't upload the files to your computer or transfer them to your Sony Walkman. You can bypass these DRM issues with a standard CD burner and a CD-burning program.

Things You'll Need

• CD burner
• Blank CD
• USB data cable
• Sony Walkman

Instructions

1. Skip this step if you downloaded the music files from the Internet. Insert the music CD into your computer's CD/DVD-ROM drive. Your default media player will load on the screen. Select to import the music content from the CD. Typically you can copy DRM-protected files once or twice, so that those who use several MP3 players are out of luck. Burning the content on to a blank CD removes the DRM, so that when you re-import the files, you can copy them as many times as you want.

2. Create a new playlist in the default media player. Click-and-drag the imported music files you wish to transfer to your Sony Walkman into the new playlist .

3. Insert the blank CD into your computer's CD/DVD burner and close out the AutoPlay window that appears on your screen. Click "Burn" in the media player. In both Windows Media Player and iTunes this is located in the lower right corner of the screen. The music files will be transferred to the CD.

4. Remove the CD from the CD burner and insert it back into the computer. Import the audio files just as you did in Step 1. Please note that the CD burner is likely the only drive on most newer computers. However, older computers may have two separate drives, one for burning CDs and one for reading CDs.

5. Plug the USB data cable into the USB port on your Sony Walkman. Plug the opposite end of the cable into the USB port on your computer.

6. Click "Start," (My) "Computer" and double-click the removable device icon. A window appears with all the files currently saved on the MP3 player. Click-and-drag the audio files you imported from the burned CD. With DRM removed, the audio files will transfer without any issues. Once you have finished copying the files, close out the media player's window, right-click the removable device icon and select "Eject."

References

• Microsoft: Using Protected Files