Firefox: Remove "Microsoft DRM" from your plugins

Following up on the Adobe Acrobat post about removing unwanted plugins from Firefox I spotted another that I've left disabled for some time, "Microsoft DRM".

DRM is a plague causing more grief than good to consumers. It also serves as a method to restrict content to countries, even though it's the world-wide web and I have no interest in keeping this shit on my computer.

Normally I wouldn't post this up because at least this DRM plugin stayed disabled in Firefox, however I'm posting it because it's a bit trickier to get rid of.

If you delete "npdrmv2.dll" and "npwmsdrm.dll" from "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player", it'll automatically restore it from "C:\WINDOWS\system32\dllcache".

This is because it's been embedded deep into the Windows operating system and protected by "Windows File Protection".

• Copy the contents below into "removeDRM.bat" and save it onto your desktop.

del C:\Windows\System32\dllcache\npdrmv2.dll
del C:\Windows\System32\dllcache\npwmsdrm.dll
del "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\npdrmv2.dll"
del "C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\npwmsdrm.dll"

• Restart your computer into safe mode.
• Double click "removeDRM.bat"
• Restart your computer back into normal mode

That should be it! You can quickly check to see if the files are back, but they shouldn't be.

Yeah that's right, get out and STAY out!

Source:

• WHY MICROSOFT DRM PLUGIN? REMOVE IT? mozillaZine Forums

Windows Media Player: Command Line Arguments

If you've wanted to start Media Player up in "Play Mode" or "Library Mode", you can modify the shortcut icon to include some arguments which affect its startup behaviour.

To start it in Library Mode (which looks better in Windows 7) or Playing Mode (better in XP), change the shortcut to the following

"C:\Program Files\Windows Media Player\wmplayer.exe" /Task MediaLibrary

Library Mode looks better in Windows 7, but Now Playing Mode looks better in XP, so to use that replace "MediaLibrary" with "NowPlaying".

There are loads of other options listed below.

"path\filename.wmv"
Description:	Start and play the file.
Example:	wmplayer "c:\filename.wma"

/fullscreen
Description:	Play the specified file in full-screen mode. You must specify the name of the content to play.
Example:	wmplayer "c:\filename.wmv" /fullscreen

/Device:{DVD|AudioCD}
Description:	Play a DVD or audio CD.
Example:	wmplayer /device:AudioCD

"path\filename?WMPSkin=skin name"
Description:	Open the Player using the specified skin.
Example:	wmplayer "c:\filename.wma?wmpskin=headspace"

/Service:keyname
Description:	Open the Player showing the online store specified by keyname.
Example:	wmplayer /Service:blah

/Task {NowPlaying|MediaGuide|CDAudio|CDWrite| MediaLibrary|RadioTuner|PortableDevice|SkinViewer}
Description:	Open the Player in the task specified.
Example:	wmplayer /Task NowPlaying

/Task Services /Service servicename
Description:	Open the Player in the Premium Services feature, showing the service specified by the servicename parameter. This value is the unique name for the service. If the specified service has not been previously viewed, the servicename parameter is ignored. Opens the specified online store in Windows Media Player 10 or later.
Example:	wmplayer /Task Services /Service ServiceName

/Task ServiceTask#
Description:	Open the Player in the online store service task pane specified by #.
Example:	wmplayer /Task ServiceTask2

/Playlist PlaylistName
Description:	Open the Player and play the specified playlist.
Example:	wmplayer /Playlist MyTracks

/Schema:{Music|Pictures|Video|TV|Other}
Description:	Open the Player, showing the specified media category. Requires Windows Media Player 11.
Example:	wmplayer /Schema:Pictures /Task:PortableDevice

 

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