As you recently saw I was lucky enough to get a Zune from Microsoft. Huzzah! But…I wasn’t lucky enough to have a working Zune Marketplace. This had something to do with some corrupt DRM files or some such. No idea how this happened. I tried following the Microsoft Knowledge Base article, but something didn’t quite match up. I call Zune support and they were very helpful and walked me through things.

Here’s what you do:

1. 1. Click the Windows Button, and type in userinit in the search box.
2. 2. Click Organize->Folder and Search Options->View and then Uncheck Hide Protected Operating System Files
3. 3. Go to C:->Program Data->Microsoft->Windows->DRM and rename the folder to something else. You MAY have a Program Data->DRM Folder. This needs to be renamed also. This was where my problem was.
4. 4. Go to this link: http://go.microsoft.com/flink?linkid=34506 and click Upgrade.
5. 5. Restart the Zune Software or Windows Media Player 11.

You should be good to go now. The plus side of this is this should fix any connection issues you might be having with your XBox 360 as well. Good luck!

I know…this blog looks like it’s turning into the Halo blog. But damn…can you blame me?

I arrived home yesterday to find a nice surprise on my doorstep, one of those new swanky Halo 3 Zunes.

The packaging is all decked out Halo style, and the Zune itself is packed nicely in it’s little box. I haven’t seen a packaging set-up this nice since my iPod. The Zune itself comes with a pair of headphones, case, usb cable and install CD. This special edition one comes preloaded with tons of Halo content including: 10 Halo related videos including Episodes of Red vs. Blue, all 3 Halo soundtracks, and over 100 Halo related images and concept art. In fact, it looks like some of the concept art might give away some clues as to what is going to happen in Halo 3.

The Zune software and marketplace seems solid. One really great thing is for those of us with an XBox Live account, you can simply sign in with this account and associate your Gamertag to your Zunetag (sorry..no Achievement points…yet). You can then use any MS Points from XBox Live to purchase songs and download alblums.

Of course the defining feature of Zune is the ability to transfer songs wirelessly between Zunes. Unfortuantely I wasn’t able to test that out as I don’t know anyone WITH a Zune. There are rumors that the newest firmware will allow you to hit up the Zune marketplace wirelessly from various hotspots which would make it a much more attractive feature.

Build quality is solid and the screen is gorgeous. The headphones out of the box lack some punch, but paired with a set of quality headphones that audio quality is noticeably better than an iPod, and just about equal with my Creative Zen Vision:M. The software works well, and one nice feature is the ability to transcode your videos on sync to the size and format needed for the Zune.

Any Halo fan looking for a new music/all-in-one player should look no further than the H3 Zune. The Limited Edition Halo 3 Zune goes on sale exclusively at Gamestop/EB Games on June 15th for $249.99.

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