Media Player can't play iTunes files.
Windows Media player has a 'Rip' tab on the menu bar at the top of the screen. Simply click this after inserting the CD in your player. If you're connected to the Internet, the player should retrieve track, album and artist information automatically. Clicking the Rip Music button on the toolbar will import the music from the CD to your library.
By default, Windows Media Player rips music in WMA format . However, if you prefer to change to MP3 format, go to Tools > Options and click on the Rip Music tab.
Increasing the bit rate will improve sound quality but increase the file size accordingly. A good balance between size and quality is ripping at 128 Kbits/s.
The Windows Media toolbar can be set so it's invisible all of the time, some of the time, or not at all. In theory this improves its appearance but it can also be an inconvenience.
In the top right-hand corner, left of the usual collection of icons to close, maximise and minimise a window is a small downward-pointing arrow. Click on this to reveal the menu options, including the Tools menu.
To change these menu options, click on this downward arrow, then on the View, Menu Bar options and choose an option. The Auto Hide option keeps the menu hidden until you move the mouse to the top of the Windows Media Player window.
Page last updated Saturday, 22 July 2006