Instruction
on how to rip CD and convert them into MP3s using Microsoft Windows Media
Player
Microsoft
Windows Media Player 10 is the latest version of Microsoft’s media management software.
One of its core features is the ability to rip CDs (copy music) and convert
them into music files which you can later put on your digital audio player.
Following the steps below will help you to get music from your CDs to your
computer's hard drive.
1.
Insert
the music CD into your computer’s CD drive. If a window titled “Audio CD” pops
up, select “Take No Action” and click Ok.
2.
Start
Windows Media Player from the Start Menu.
3.
With
the “Now Playing” tabbed menu on the screen, select “Rip”. You’ll notice a list
of your CD tracks appear, with the title, length, artist and other information
either filled in or showing as unknown. If you have an Internet connection,
click “Find Album Info” to have it downloaded and filled in automatically.
Alternatively, you can click on items like artist once and manually type in the
information.
4.
Select
Tools from under the top menu and choose Options. Choose the Rip Music tab.
Check to see that the “Rip Music to this location” option is to your liking. If
not, click Change. Under File Name, you can also choose what options (i.e.
artist, song title) to include in the name.
5.
Under
Rip settings, select the Format you wish to save your music to. The Three
Windows Media Audio formats can provide slightly better audio results then MP3,
especially at lower bit rates (known as audio quality in Windows Media Player –
see next step), but are not as widely supported on digital audio players as
MP3s.
6.
Audio
quality selection is next. The slider, by moving it to the right, will increase
the bit rate by which the music is recorded to. The higher the bit rate (i.e.
displayed in the box as 192 Kbps), the better sounding quality the music will
be. It also will increase the size of the individual music files, which may
ultimately limit how many you can store on a portable device.
7.
After
confirming your selections, click Ok to return to the Rip CD screen.
8.
Looking
at the screen, you will see checkmarks next to each of the tracks to be copied.
If you wish to not copy some of them, uncheck those marks.
9.
Click
Rip Music. A progress bar will appear next to each song title as it is copied
onto your hard drive. You can stop the rip at anytime by clicking Stop Rip.
10.
When
all of the songs have been ripped, you can eject the CD and put it away.
Congratulations – you’ve ripped a CD using Windows Media Player 10!
Credit: Nino Marchetti, From Your
Guide to Portable Electronics.