Media Player lets you copy songs from your CDs onto your computer, but only in the WMA format, unless you pay extra for the privilege of encoding MP3s. That's too bad because MP3 is much more popular and is supported by every portable MP3 player. Microsoft hopes WMA will catch on because of Microsoft's marketing muscle. Plus, WMA files are half the size of MP3 files.
Bending to pressure, Microsoft made a last-minute deal with three companies to provide software for Windows Media Player to create MP3s and decode DVDs. The catch? The complete package costs between $20 and $30, with separate components (the MP3 encoder on its own, for instance) costing less.
The three companies, CyberLink, InterVideo, and RAVISENT, each offer an MP3 Creation Pack for Windows XP. After October 25, 2001, Windows XP users may order and download these new add-on packs from each company's Web site through links inside Windows Media Player.
If you've upgraded to Windows XP from an earlier version of Windows, and your old MP3 creation software no longer works, using the links to get the add-ons might be your best option.
Before you copy files, you must tell Media Player where to store them and what format to use. Choose Options from Media Player's Tools menu and click the Copy Music tab.
To save space, you may want to store your music in your computer's Shared Music folder so that every computer user can hear it: Click the Change button, click My Computer, click Shared Documents, and choose Shared Music. Click OK to save your changes.
Make sure no check mark is in the Protect Content box. Then, you're ready to copy the songs from a CD onto your computer, where you can listen to them, catalog them, or copy them directly to MP3 players and Pocket PCs.
1. Log onto the Internet.
Although not essential, an Internet connection automatically fills in the CD's song titles while Media Player creates your MP3s and WMAs. Using the Internet is a great timesaver and helps avoid embarrassing misspellings.
2. Load Media Player.
3. Insert your audio CD into your computer and click the Stop Play button.
Media Player will probably begin playing the songs, but it copies faster if the CD doesn't play.
4. Click the Copy from CD button.
After you click the Copy from CD button, Media Player shows all the CD's song titles, which are all selected.
5. Remove the check marks from any titles that you don't want to copy.
6. Click the Copy Music button.
This Copy Music button is the red button near the top, next to the Get Names button. Media Player begins copying the selected song(s) from the CD to your hard drive in your chosen format, as shown in Figure 1.
That's it. Media Player automatically records all the songs onto your hard drive.
Figure 1: Media Player creates WMA files, but not MP3 files.
To listen to your newly copied files, click the Media Library button and find your CD listed under the Album section. Click the CD's name, and all the copied songs appear on Media Player's right-hand side.
If you save your music files to your My Music folder, only you can hear them on the computer. Save them to the Shared Music folder so that anyone who uses your computer can access them.
To create an MP3 after installing the add-on, choose Options from Media Player's Tools menu, click the Copy Music tab, and select MP3 from the File Format area.
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