Windows Media Player 11 which is the latest version available from Microsoft. By using this version you can copy the music off of your audio CDs and onto your computer's hard drive and you can enjoy your music without needing to pop in a disc. Windows Media Player 11 automatically downloads CD information and cover album art so you can more easily identify tracks and surch.

Here are few steps to get the most out of Window Media Player 11: -

Insert an audio CD in your computer and the AutoPlay function of Windows should make a window prompt appear asking you what you wish to do with the CD. Select Rip music from CD using Windows Media Player.(If the prompt does not appear, jump to step three after starting.

Windows Media Player should now start and after downloading information such as track titles and album art, begin automatically copying the CD's audio content to your hard drive. If it does not, or if you wish to change something about the configuration, jump to the next step.

With Windows Media Player 11 open, the album cover art and other information should download automatically as the CD appears in the open window. If not, the album name or an indication an audio CD is in your computer should appear in the left column as seen in the photo. Select that album title or audio CD indication to view the information window about your CD (if you lack an Internet connection or for whatever reason can't get Windows Media Player to input the information automatically, you can right click on the various text in the window and input the information yourself).

Click on the Rip tab along the upper menu bar. If you are happy with the default settings of Windows Media Player 11, you can click Start Rip in the lower right corner and start copying the audio CD. If you wish to change something, click on the arrow below the Rip tab and select More Options.

In More Options you'll see you can do several things. Rip music to this allows you to select where on your computer you copy the music to (File Name allows to choose what elements of each song appear in the saved track's name). Rip settings allows you to select the audio file format type (WMA, MP3, WAV) you save each copied file as and the audio quality you wish each file to be saved at, among other features. With regards to the audio quality, generally the better sounding a music file is the larger the file is so keep that in mind as you are choosing sound quality.

With your choices made and the More Options menu closed, you should now be ready to copy your audio CD. Click Start Rip and you'll hear your CD drive start spinning, a green status bar will appear over each song as it is copied and the Start Rip button which change to Stop Rip. Once the audio CD is ripped you can remove the CD from your computer drive and enjoy your music off your hard drive.