You can use Windows Media Player to copy songs from music CDs to your computer. This process is called "ripping".

In the process of ripping, the player copies each song, stores it on the hard disk as a Windows Media Audio (WMA) or MP3 file, and then adds it to the player's media library. For more information about the PlayLibrary, see Getting Started with Windows Media Player.

Rip music CDs

After ripping a CD collection, you can use the player to do any of the following:

With a few quick clicks, you can find and play any song on your computer (without searching for piles of CDs and CD boxes). For more information about finding music, see Finding items in the Windows Media Player media library.

Sync your favorite songs from your computer to a portable device (such as MP3 player or Windows phone) so that you can enjoy music on the road. For more information about synchronization, see Setting up a device to synchronize with Windows Media Player.

Burn a CD and play it on the car or home stereo. For more information about burning, see "Burning a CD or DVD with Windows Media Player".

Go to the Windows website to watch videos. ( 1:00)

Steps to rip music from CD

If Windows Media Player does not open when you put an audio CD into the CD drive, it will be in "Play" mode when it is opened. If the playback library is open when the CD is inserted, it will remain open. You can rip a CD and adjust the ripping settings in either mode. Click the Switch to Media Library button or the Switch to Play button to switch between modes.

Ripping control in player library

For more information about "Now Playing" mode and library, see Getting Started with Windows Media Player. For more information about ripping settings, see "Changing settings for ripping music".

To rip music from a CD:

For best results, please make sure that you are connected to the Internet before starting the operation.

When your computer is connected to the Internet, the player tries to retrieve media information about the track being ripped from the online database. The player then adds this information to the file during ripping.

Please note that you can also rip CDs when your computer is not connected to the Internet. However, before you go online, the player will not recognize the name of the CD, the artist who made the CD or the name of the song.

Put the audio CD in the CD drive.

(Optional) If you want to choose a different format (such as MP3 instead of WMA) or a different bit rate (such as 192 Kbps instead of 128 Kbps) for files created during ripping, click the Ripping Settings menu in the player media library, and then click Format or Audio Quality.

(Optional) If you don't want to rip all the songs, in the Player Library, clear the check box next to the songs you don't want to rip.

You can start ripping by clicking the Rip CD button in Play mode or clicking Rip CD in the player library.

After you rip a song, you can find it in the player library and play it.

pay attention to

The player stores the ripped songs in the music library of the computer. If you delete the music library or remove all the locations in it, you will not be able to rip music from the CD. For more information about adding and deleting locations in the music library, see "Adding Items to the Windows Media Player Media Library". For more information about restoring deleted libraries, see Libraries: Frequently Asked Questions.

After ripping, you may be prompted to manually add the missing media information. To learn how to add or edit media information after ripping, please refer to the following steps. For more information about how to edit media information, see Adding or Editing Media Information in Windows Media Player.

Add or edit media information after ripping.

Connect to the internet.

If the media information is lost because of not being connected to the Internet during the track grabbing process, the media information of the newly grabbed track will usually be displayed shortly after being connected to the Internet. If the media information does not appear, or the information is incorrect, please continue with the following steps to add or edit the information. If you can't access the Internet, you can edit the media information manually.

Click the start button, click all programs, and then click Windows Media Player.

If the player is currently open and in "Now Playing" mode, click the "Switch to Media Library" button in the upper right corner of the player.

In the Player Media Library, browse to the album you just ripped.

Right-click the album, and then click Find Album Information.

If an error message appears asking you to change your privacy settings, do the following:

Click Organization, click Options, and then click the Privacy tab.

Select the check box "Update music files by retrieving media information on the Internet".

Repeat steps 3 and 4.

Please do one of the following:

If the search results show the correct album or artist information, please select the correct entry, and then automatically update the album screen and media information according to the instructions on the page. If the correct album is not displayed in the search results, please follow the instructions on the page and search again using other search criteria, or add media information manually.

If an ordinary music icon is displayed as an album screen with the correct album information, the album screen cannot be downloaded.

For more information about how to edit media information, see Adding or Editing Media Information in Windows Media Player.