If you joined us last week, you learned the proper way to burn files to a disc. If you still own a compact disc (CD) player, you’ll need to do things a little differently if you wish to create a disc to be played by any player, made by any manufacturer. While audio CDs store files such as MP3 or WMA, the way files are written in the form of a playlist is what requires a separate program for the burning process, and not just Windows as we used last week. The good news is, the program we’re going to use today is free to download. I recommend using iTunes for creating audio CDs. In my experience, Windows Media Player does not create CDs that can be used 100% of the time with Apple products. Why risk it? Head to http://www.apple.com/itunes/ and download and install the latest version. If you own an iPhone or iPad, you should be using iTunes anyway to back up your device. Grab a disc, and let’s get started!
Step one in our journey is to open iTunes (you did install it, didn’t you?) If you don’t have any music on your computer, we’ll first have to put some on it. If you already have the music you’d like to put on a CD, disregard the next two steps. Insert your favorite music CD into your disc drive. iTunes will begin playing the CD, and list the tracks that make up the CD on the left of your screen with a checkmark in front of each song. Look to the right of your screen (to the right of the CD’s title), and click on “Import CD”. Click “OK” on the window that pops up, and the music will be ripped from the CD to your music library on your hard drive. Don’t worry – the songs will still be available on the original CD. The ripping process will take a few minutes, but you’ll know it’s complete when each track has a green checkmark in front of it. Now, remove the CD that contained the music that you just ripped, and insert a blank audio CD-R, or CD-RW. Refer to last week’s Blog “Burn a Disc” if you’re not sure which type to use. Click “File” then “New” then “Playlist”. Give your new playlist a name, then press ENTER. You’ll notice “My Music”, “Playlists”, “For You”, “New”, “Radio”, “Connect”, and “iTunes Store” across the top of the screen. Click “Playlists” and your newly created playlist will be listed with no items belonging to it. To the right, click “Edit Playlist” and every song on your computer will be listed in alphabetical order. Click and drag each desired song to the panel on the right that says “To create a playlist drag songs or other items here.” The length of the CD you’re creating is listed at the bottom left of that panel. Remember, only 80 minutes will fit on one CD. When you’re finished, click “Done”. Click “File”, then “Burn Playlist to Disc”. In the window that pops up, click “Burn”, and sit back and relax. Your disc will eject when it’s finished burning.
Feeling like an expert on burning items to disc? You’ve now mastered (no pun intended) backing up files to disc for archiving purposes, and creating audio CDs. That wasn’t so hard now was it?