RIPPING WITH WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER

The process of copying music files off of music CDs and saving them to your hard drive is called "ripping." Windows Media Player 10 or 11 can "rip" files for you, but by default stores the files in the Windows Media Audio (WMA) format. That may not be what you want, as MP3 files more condensed and are used more for players than WMA.

TIP: To get Windows Media Player to rip music in the MP3 format, open the program, click on Tools, Options, and on the Rip Music tab. First check the location where your ripped music is going to be stored. Use the buttons to change to the location you want. Next open the box under Format. Now just select MP3. Under format you can also make the program rip files when you insert a CD, and eject the CD when the ripping is finished, just by placing a check mark in the appropriate box. Next you can adjust the Audio Quality by using the slider. I suggest the 128 Kbps setting for the most compression and near CD quality. You may select one of the other settings, 192 Kbps, 256Kbps or 320 Kbps, but you will end up with larger file sizes and possibility no noticeable difference in sound quality. After you have made your selections click Apply, then OK.

Now your ready to rip, just insert your CD, place a check mark next to the songs you want to rip and to start the process click on the Start Rip button in the lower right corner of the player. You can stop at any time by pressing the Stop Rip button.

NOTE: If you are connected to the Internet, Windows Media Player will get all the information for the CD you are ripping including the album cover, if available.