iTunes v. 7.1.1.5-Remove DRM from m4v?

I had not installed iTunes until recently, and only then because I wanted to download a special music video. And, being such novice that I am, I did not realize that I would not be able to play this video with anything other than iTunes.

I have been doing some research and it appears that several programs proclaim to be capable of removing DRM from iTunes .m4v, but I have not yet found a program that will work with the latest version of iTunes. So far, I have tried 5star freeTunes, and Movavi Video Converter, and neither of these programs recognize the format of the .m4v file that I purchased. I was almost ready to buy Tunebite, until I found, in another forum, that even the latest version of Tunebite will not properly convert files from iTunes newest version. It appears that Apple is a 'step ahead' of all the DRM removing programs at this time.

I even tried uninstalling the new version of iTunes and installing an older version (this was suggested in the other forum), but that will not work, either, because the older version of iTunes will not play the .mv4 file that I downloaded with the new version of iTunes. Bummer!

If anyone has knowledge of a program that WILL convert the .m4v files (to .wmv) from the latest version of iTunes, I will certainly appreciate you sharing that information with me. I don't mind to pay for a program that will work, but I don't want to spend lots of money via the trial and error process. And, I have no intentions of doing anything other than making a copy of this video for my personal use, which I firmly believe I should have the 'right' to do.

My OS is Windows XP/SP2. I have a Dell 8400 PC, with an Intel Pentium 4CPU 3.20 GHz processor, and 1 GB RAM. Please advise if further information is needed.

Thank you very much for any assistance/advice anyone can give me.

DRM removal software 5star freeTunes and MuvAudio can convert from .m4v to audio files only.

I know only one DRM remover that can convert .m4v video files. It is Tunebite Platinum, already mentioned by you. You can try it before buying it to make sure it works with your .m4v files.

In many cases DRM removal tools have problems with the latest versions of players like iTunes or Windows Media Player.

If you install an older version of a player, you may try to re-download video files with it. Make sure they won't charge you for that.

You may re-record your video files using screen video capture software like free CamStudio.

DRM removal tools like Soundtaxi have an advantage of saving ID3 tags and filenames when re-recording audio files. Besides some of them can record faster then in Real time. Moreover you can use your sound card while recording.
But you can save some cash if you download complete albums and use tagging and renaming software (of course the DRM removal process will take more time for you in this case).

As for DRM removal software for video files, its advantages are rather controversial. In many cases screen video capture software will suit you fine. But you can always use free or free to try software to compare what program will be better for you.

Thank you very much for all of the information. At this time, it seems that no programs are able remove DRM from the m4v files downloaded for/with the latest version of iTunes. And, as I understand, the particular m4v file that I want to convert can not be downloaded with earlier versions of iTunes.

I did download the trial version of Tunebite. The demo is limited to 30 seconds, and that 30 second demo looks great, but it is also deceiving. There are lots of posts at the Tunebite forum from disgruntled customers who can not convert the full length m4v files. So, I'll just save my money for now.

I have also tried free screen capture program called CamStudio, and it will re-record the m4v file, but playback quality is really lacking.

Since I lack the expertise and patience a project of this type requires, I'll have to be content to watch the video on my computer with the iTunes player. Meantime, I'll keep watching the forums, and maybe a quick and easy way will someday be available.

Thanks again for all of the information you provided me.

I regularly see disgruntled customers of Tunebite in their forum. Luckily the company works to fix the bugs and to support new versions of media players.

And I always suggest to try software before buying. All software at all-streaming-media.com is free or free to try.

When using screen video capture program I usually record using lossless video codec or some fast video codec with low level of compression. And I don't launch any application that can slow down my recording. After that I usually convert recorded videos to MPEG-4 AVC using 2-pass encoding.