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In general, I'm all for alternatives to Microsoft products, but if you don't use an IPod, and you like having some choices when shopping for media files online, Windows Media Player 10 is a great fit for you. The Electronic Frontier Foundation may be correct in thinking that digital rights management is a bad idea, but Microsoft's new player makes it a pretty easy evil to live with. Nevertheless, you should keep a few things in mind to avoid DRM hassles. First, be sure to back up your licenses. When you purchase an audio or video file through one of the services in WMP 10's list of online stores, it will probably come encrypted and accompanied by a digital rights license. Without the license, you can't play the file. Backing up your media licenses lets you restore files that become corrupted, and lets you move the files to another PC. Reinstalling Windows or changing your PC's hardware may invalidate the licenses on your PC, making a backup a must. To create a copy of your licenses in Windows Media Player 10, right-click the player's toolbar and select Show Menu Bar. Choose Tools, Manage Licenses, click Change to select the destination folder or device for your license backup, choose OK, and then click Back Up Now. To restore backed-up licenses, reopen the Manage Licenses dialog box and click Restore Now, but do this only if you really have to--Microsoft limits the number of times you can restore licenses, and the number of PCs you can transfer licenses to (see the company's license FAQ for the details). Second, to avoid the DRM license hassle altogether when you rip your own CDs (or copy tracks to your hard disk), make sure that Windows Media Player doesn't do any encrypting. To disable automatic encryption, choose Tools, Options, select the Rip Music tab, and uncheck Copy protect music. Alternatively, you may choose mp3 in the Format list as the audio format you're ripping to--unlike previous versions, Windows Media Player 10 includes an MP3 encoder. Click OK to finish.