This article shows how to use Windows Media Player to copy an audio CD (in jargon this action is referred to as "rip" or "rip") on a computer hard disk and then burn the extracted data on a new optical media always using Windows Media Player. In order to perform the procedures described, you must use a computer equipped with a CD / DVD burner and Windows Media Player.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Copy the Original CD
Step 1. Insert the CD to be copied into your computer's drive
Make sure the side with the CD cover (or label) is facing up when you insert it into the CD player.
- If the optical drive of the computer does not show the abbreviation "DVD" on the front panel of the cart, it means that it cannot read some types of discs and therefore cannot be used to perform this procedure.
- If Windows Media Player starts automatically as soon as the CD is inserted into your computer player, skip the next two steps.
- If the "AutoPlay" window appears or if a program other than Windows Media Player starts, close its window.
Step 2. Access the "Start" menu by clicking the icon
It features the Windows logo and is located in the lower left corner of the desktop.
Step 3. Start Windows Media Player
Type in the keywords windows media player. Your computer will search for the Windows "Windows Media Player" program. At this point select the white and orange icon of the program.
If the "Windows Media Player" item does not appear in the "Start" menu after performing the search, it means that the program is not installed on your system. Windows Media Player is not integrated in some versions of Windows 10. However, in some cases, installing Windows 10 from scratch can be used to add Windows Media Player to the series of programs present in the system
Step 4. Select the name of the CD present in your computer drive
It appears inside the left sidebar of Windows Media Player and has an optical disc icon.
Step 5. If necessary, change the folder where the data extracted from the CD will be saved
If you need to make this change, please refer to these instructions:
- Choose the option CD copy settings. It is located at the top of the Windows Media Player window;
- Choose the voice Other options … from the drop-down menu appeared;
- Push the button Change … placed in the upper right part of the appeared window;
- Select the folder in which to save the audio tracks extracted from the CD and press the button OK placed at the bottom of the window;
- At this point complete the procedure by pressing the button OK located at the bottom of the window.
Step 6. Press the Copy CD button
It is located at the top of the Windows Media Player window. The contents of the CD will be imported into your computer.
- Normally this import process takes about 60 seconds for each track on the disc.
- To stop extracting data from the CD press the button Stop copying from CD placed at the top of the window.
Step 7. Press the OK button when prompted
At this point, all the audio tracks on the CD have been imported to the computer in the indicated folder.
To view the files extracted from the CD in question, access the destination folder you selected in the first steps of the procedure, double-click the name of the artist (or the words Unknown artist), then double-click the folder with the name of the album to which the CD refers.
Part 2 of 2: Burning a New CD
Step 1. Insert a blank CD into your computer's optical drive
It must be a CD-R or CD-RW optical media and it must be new (if you want to create an audio archive you can use a blank DVD).
- If the optical drive of the computer does not show the abbreviation "DVD" on the front panel of the cart, it means that it cannot read some types of discs and therefore cannot be used to perform this procedure.
- If Windows Media Player starts automatically as soon as the CD is inserted into your computer player, skip the next two steps.
- If the "AutoPlay" window appears or if a program other than Windows Media Player starts, close its window.
Step 2. Access the "Start" menu by clicking the icon
It features the Windows logo and is located in the lower left corner of the desktop.
Step 3. Start Windows Media Player
Type in the keywords windows media player. Your computer will search for the Windows "Windows Media Player" program. At this point select the white and orange icon of the program.
If the "Windows Media Player" item does not appear in the "Start" menu after performing the search, it means that the program is not installed on your system. Windows Media Player is not integrated in some versions of Windows 10. However, in some cases, installing Windows 10 from scratch can be used to add Windows Media Player to the series of programs present in the system
Step 4. Go to the Burn tab
It is located in the upper right of the program window.
Step 5. Choose the CD format
Even if you normally use Windows Media Player to create an audio CD that can be played by any CD player, you can also create a data CD / DVD in which to store videos and images for example:
- Click the "Burn Options" icon marked with a check mark and located in the upper right part of the "Burn" tab.
- Choose the format Audio CD if you want to create an audio CD that can be played by any player or choose the format Data CD or DVD if you want to create optical media intended for data storage.
Step 6. Select the tracks to burn to the CD
A normal audio CD can hold up to 80 minutes of music, so select the tracks you want to add and drag them into the main pane of the "Burn" tab.
If you have chosen to create a data CD, you can also add videos and images
Step 7. Organize the selected tracks according to the order in which you want them to be played
Drag them up or down to reorder the playlist.
If you are creating a data CD, skip this step
Step 8. Press the Start Burn button
It is located in the upper left of the "Burn" tab. Windows Media Player will burn the selected audio tracks to the CD. When the process of writing data to the disc is complete, the CD will automatically eject from the computer.
