Ripping your CD collection using Media Player 11

Media Player 11 comes installed with (most versions of ) Windows Vista. The program gives you the ability to play many types of media files on your computer, including CDs, DVDs, downloaded videos, and music files. The new media player also makes it easy for you to rip, which means copy, your music from any CD to your hard drive. This guide explains how you can rip music so you can enjoy your favorite songs on your computer, without having to switch CDs.

What You Need to Rip Your CD Collection

Hard drive space may be the biggest concern. Music files usually range from 3–4MB per song. An average CD has ten songs, which means the ripped music from that CD will take up an average of 40MB of space on your hard drive. If you only have a few CDs, then this won’t be a problem. But if you have 100 CDs you want to rip, then you will need to ensure you have at least 4-5GB of space available.

Quick Tip: If space is a problem, you could always purchase an affordable external hard drive. Most external hard drives can be purchased for under a hundred dollars. They can be found at most local electronic stores and wholesale outlets.

Your Media’s Information

With a large library of CDs, you might be concerned that you won’t be able to figure out which songs go with what album. But if you have an Internet connection, Windows Media Player will assign song titles and album information to your ripped music. Microsoft’s database contains all sorts of music from all eras, so your CDs should end up well catalogued on your computer.

If for some reason Windows Media Player cannot find information for the album you rip, then you can simply edit it yourself. To have Microsoft’s database assign information, ensure you are connected to the Internet.

Understanding Bit Rate

The bit rate determines the amount of information stored per unit of time. A 128 bit rate sounds good but may not carry bass tones well. The higher the bit rate the larger the file 192 bit rate has emerged as the new standard, since more and more computers can store more data.

You can change the bit rate in Windows Media Player by clicking the Rip tab and selecting the bit rate arrow. The options are:48, 64, 96, 128, 160 or 192Kbps.

Media File Types

With Windows Media Player, the player creates Windows Media Files (.wma) by default. However, you can change the format to suit your needs. You may want a different format if you have a portable media player that only accepts MP3 for instance, or if you plan on using the media on other devices that cannot read .wma files.

If you only plan to listen to the music on your desktop or laptop computer, then Windows Media files will work fine, but MP3 is a far more versatile format.

To change the media file output, select the Rip tab, and choose Format to adapt the file output.