This wikiHow teaches you how to use Windows Media Player to copy (or "rip") files from an audio CD to your computer, as well as how to burn files to a CD using this same program. In order to do this, you need to have Windows Media Player installed on your computer and a DVD drive.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Copy from a CD
Step 1. Insert the CD into your computer's DVD drive
Place the CD from which you want to copy the files face up into your computer's DVD player drive.
- If your computer's disc drive does not have the "DVD" logo on it, then it is not the type of drive you need and you will not be able to copy or burn your CD.
- If inserting the CD opens Windows Media Player, you can skip the next two steps.
- If the "AutoPlay" window or any other different program opens, close it before continuing.
Step 2. Open
Beginning.
Click on the Windows logo in the lower left corner of the screen. The Start menu will open.
Step 3. Open Windows Media Player
Type windows media player, and then click the orange, blue, and white Windows Media Player icon at the top of the Start menu.
If Windows Media Player does not appear at the top of the Start menu, it means that it is not installed on your computer. This program does not come installed in all versions of Windows 10, although if you reinstall Windows 10 from scratch on your computer, it may be added
Step 4. Select the CD
Click on the CD name in the left part of the window.
Step 5. Change the location where you will save the copy, if necessary
If you want to change the folder into which the CD files will be copied, do the following:
- Click on CD Copy Settings at the top of the window.
- Click on More options… in the drop-down menu.
- Click on Change… at the top right of the window.
- Select a new folder, click To accept at the bottom of the pop-up window.
- Click on To accept at the bottom of the window.
Step 6. Click Rip from CD
As you do so, Windows Media Player will begin to copy the files from the CD to your computer.
- This process can take up to a minute or more for each song (if they are standard songs).
- To stop copying at any time, you can press Stop copying from CD at the top of the window.
Step 7. Click OK to confirm
By now, the files will have been copied from the CD to the computer.
- You can view the files on your CD by opening the folder in which you copied the songs from the CD, double-clicking on the artist name (or on Unknown artist) and double-clicking the album folder.
Method 2 of 2: Burn a CD
Step 1. Insert a blank CD into your computer's DVD drive
It should be a new CD-R or CD-RW drive (or, if you are creating a storage CD, a new DVD drive).
- If your computer's disc drive does not have the "DVD" logo on it, then it is not the type of drive you need and you will not be able to copy or burn your CD.
- If inserting the CD opens Windows Media Player, you can skip the next two steps.
- If the "AutoPlay" window or any other program opens, close it before continuing.
Step 2. Open
Beginning.
Click on the Windows logo in the lower left corner of the screen. The Start menu will open.
Step 3. Open Windows Media Player
Type windows media player, and then click the orange, blue, and white Windows Media Player icon at the top of the Start menu.
If Windows Media Player does not appear at the top of the Start menu, it means that it is not installed on your computer. This program does not come installed in all versions of Windows 10, although if you reinstall Windows 10 from scratch on your computer, it may be added
Step 4. Click the Burn tab
It's in the upper-right part of the window.
Step 5. Select a CD format
In most cases, users use Windows Media Player to create an audio CD that can be played in the car or on a CD player. However, this program also allows you to create a data storage CD:
- Click the checklist icon that says "Burn Options" at the top of the "Burn" section.
- Click on Audio CD if you want a playable audio CD, or Data CD or DVD if you want a CD to store files.
Step 6. Add songs to the CD
On a standard audio CD, you can add up to 80 minutes of audio. So click on your favorite songs and drag them into the main window of the "Record" section.
If you are creating a data CD, you can also add videos and photos
Step 7. Arrange the songs in the order you want
Click and drag the songs up or down to set the playing order.
If you are creating a data CD, you can skip this step
Step 8. Click Start Recording
It's at the top of the "Burn" section. When you do this, Windows Media Player will start burning the selected songs (or files) to the CD. Once this process is complete, the CD will eject from your computer.
The recording process will take several minutes depending on the format selected for the CD and the number of songs you are recording
Advice
- When you go to select the folder in which the files copied from the CD will be saved, you can choose a base folder (for example, the Desk) and click Create new folder at the top left of the pop-up window to create and choose a new folder as the destination location.