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Creating full-track MP3s using Windows Media Player

If you are using Windows XP/Vista, you can use the built-in Windows Media Player to create MP3s. If you don't already have at least version 10 of Windows Media Player, you can download the latest version here: Click here to get Windows Media Player 11.

Once you have installed Windows Media Player, follow these steps to create MP3s:

1. Start Windows Media Player.
2. Insert your CD.
3. Click the "Rip" tab.
4. Right-click on the title bar to get the Windows Media Player menu, and select "Tools -> Options". A small popup window with several tabs will appear.
5. Select the "Rip Music" tab from the popup window.
6. In the top half of the popup window, you will see the location that the MP3s will be placed. Take a note of this location so you can find your files later.
7. In the bottom half of the popup window, set the "Format" to "mp3", and adjust the slider to an appropriate audio quality.
   • If you are encoding tracks that people will listen to freely on your website, choose the lowest quality (128kbps).
   • If you are encoding tracks for paid downloads, choose 192kbps.
8. Click "OK" to save settings and dismiss the popup window.
9. Click the button that says "Rip Music".

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Creating full-track MP3s using iTunes

To create MP3s on Mac OSX, you will need to have iTunes installed (iTunes is installed by default, so this should not be a problem).

If you are using Windows XP or Windows Vista, you can download iTunes for Windows here: Click here to download iTunes for Windows

1. Start iTunes.
2. Insert your CD.
3. From the iTunes main menu, select "Preferences".
4. Click the "Advanced" tab, then the "Importing" sub-tab.
5. Set the preferences to use the "MP3 Encoder". For the quality settings, use "Good" if you are encoding for standard onsite listening, and "High" if you are encoding for paid downloads.
6. Click "OK".
7. Select the tracks you wish to encode from the track listing.
8. From the "Advanced" menu, select "Convert Selection to MP3".