Related Pages
If Downloaded or Burned Media Don't Play Correctly

Help with Burning Audio CDs

These are the main things that I've learned about burning audio CDs in Windows Media Player 10. Probably most of these instructions apply to earlier versions of the player as well. Windows Media Player is a good, free program. There's more than one way to do things in most programs, and that includes Windows Media Player. In the player, you can learn about alternative methods by pressing the F1 key on your keyboard. The following page has downloads of several versions of Windows Media Player (be sure to look at the System Requirements or Readme links on that page to see what version of Windows Media Player would be best for your system, and I suggest (read more on this) that you download a version earlier than version 11): http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx

Page Menu
Basic Steps
Add to the Windows Media Player Library the Audio Files That You Want to Burn
Create a Burn List of Audio Files That Will Fit on an Audio CD
Arrange Your Burn List Items in Your Preferred Play Order
Burn Your Audio CD

Optional Steps and Tips
Suggestion: Avoid Upgrading to Windows Media Player 11
An Audio CD is Different from a Data CD
In Windows Explorer, Rename the Audio Files That You Want to Burn
Level the Volume Between Audio Files
Tidy Up Your Library
Add to a Playlist the Audio Files That You Want to Burn
A Few Tips about Playlists
Hide or Show the Far-right (Blue) Pane in the Library
Tip: If You Close Windows Media Player, Your Burn List Will Be Lost
Save Your Revised Burn List to a New Playlist for Easy Future Burning

Basic Steps

Add to the Windows Media Player Library the Audio Files That You Want to Burn

To bring into the library the audio files that you want to burn, do the following:

Click on the Library Tab;
Click on File;
Go to Add to Library;
Click on By Searching Computer;
In the Add to Library by Searching Computer dialogue box, select New files only (fast);
Click on the Browse button, and browse to the folder that contains audio files that you want to burn;
Click on the OK button;
Click on the Search button;
When the search is completed, click on the Close button. Back to menu

Create a Burn List of Audio Files That Will Fit on an Audio CD

To see how many audio files will and won't fit on an CD and to make adjustments accordingly, do the following:

Insert a CD-R disc into the disc drive of your computer. Other types of CDs may also work, but CD-R discs play in more external players than do any other disc types. You can burn a CD-RW (rewritable) audio CD in Windows Media Player, but I'm not sure that CD-RW discs play in as many external players as do CD-R discs.
Open Windows Media Player;
Click on the Library tab;
In the left pane, click on the folder that contains the audio files that you added to the library (either a playlist or All Music);
In the right pane, click on a file to select it (to select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard; or to select all, first select one file, and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key);
Right-click on the file(s) that you selected;
Go to Add to;
Click on Burn List;
Click on the Burn tab;
Make sure that it says Audio CD by the little disc icon at the top of the right pane. If it says Data CD or something else there, click on that disc icon, and select Audio CD.
If you see Will not fit, you need to remove some items. You can remove from the burn list files that say Ready to burn or files that say Will not fit. Uncheck, checkmark, or recheckmark boxes next to files until you've selected the file(s) that you want to burn and that will fit on a CD. Back to menu

Arrange Your Burn List Items in Your Preferred Play Order

For greater ease in rearranging (if necessary) the audio files that you're going to burn, you might want to select and delete from the burn list the audio files that you're not going to burn on this CD. But as far as burning is concerned, such deleting isn't necessary, because only checkmarked items will be burned.

To arrange your burn list items in the order in which you want them to play on the audio CD, do the following:

Click on Edit Playlist;
In the Edit Playlist dialogue box, in the Burn List pane, click on an audio file that you want to reposition;
Move the file to a different position by dragging it up or down or by clicking on the up or down arrow, near the bottom of that pane.
When the files appear in the order in which you want them to play on the CD that you're going to burn, click on the OK button. Back to menu

Burn Your Audio CD

Once your burn list shows that the checkmarked audio files will fit on a CD and that the files are in the order in which you want them to play on the audio CD, do the following in Windows Media Player (note: only checkmarked items will be burned):

Click on the Burn tab;
Click on Start Burn. Back to menu

Optional Steps and Tips

Suggestion: Avoid Upgrading to Windows Media Player 11

I like Windows Media Player 10 and prefer it to Windows Media Player 11. When I upgraded to version 11, I couldn't figure out how to make a playlist. Since then, I've read about how to do it, but I don't prefer the method. My understanding is that version 11 is quite a bit different from earlier versions of the player, and that a lot of users don't like it. If you like Windows Media Player 11, that's great (for all I know, it may work just fine for burning audio CDs and whatever else you use it for). Otherwise, I highly recommend that you avoid getting version 11 and say "No" whenever you're prompted to upgrade to the latest version of Windows Media Player. For example, whenever you get the message, A Windows Media update is available. Do you want to update now?, click on the No button.

If Windows Media Player 11 came on your computer, and if you want to use version 10 instead, I suggest that you contact your computer manufacturer. If version 11 didn't come on your computer, probably you can, as I did, roll back to version 10. But be careful, because the player can be integrated with the operating system such that, often, it shouldn't be completely removed. If you try to uninstall any version of Windows Media Player and if you get any warning or message that you don't understand, please contact your computer manufacturer before continuing. I had contacted my computer manufacturer and learned that it was safe on my system to go to Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs and to select to remove Windows Media Player. When I did so, Add or Remove Programs gave me the option to roll back to the earlier version of the player. The following page has downloads of several versions of Windows Media Player (be sure to look at the System Requirements or Readme links on that page to see what version of Windows Media Player would be best for your system):
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/download/AllDownloads.aspx Back to menu

An Audio CD is Different from a Data CD

Data CDs can hold more audio files than audio CDs can, but you need to burn an audio CD if you want the CD to be playable in most CD players. Today, CD-player manufacturers are making more and more players that can play MP3s on data CDs, but most people don't have such players yet. Data CDs are playable in most computers, but again, not in most CD players. Back to menu

In Windows Explorer, Rename the Audio Files That You Want to Burn

This is an optional step, because once your audio files are in a Windows Media Player burn list, you can arrange them in your preferred play order regardless of their file names. I share this step just in case you want your audio files to be more organized before you add them to Windows Media Player.

You can rename your audio files in Windows Media Player, but renaming files in the player doesn't rename them on your hard drive.

Before you do too much renaming in Windows, you might want to wait until you see, in Windows Media Player, which files will fit on an audio CD.

To reorder your audio files in Windows, do the following in Windows Explorer:

Go to a folder that contains audio files that you want to burn;
Go to View > Arrange Icons by, and select Name;
Refresh Windows Explorer (Click on View > Refresh or, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + r; that is, on your keyboard, press the r key while holding down the Ctrl key);
Evaluate the order in which your audio files appear in Windows Explorer;
If the files need reordering, one way you can do that is by putting 01, 02, 03, and so forth, at the beginning of each of the file names. You can put a space after the number;
To re-check how Windows sorts your renamed files, refresh Windows Explorer again (Click on View > Refresh or, on your keyboard, press the r key while holding down the Ctrl key). Back to menu

Level the Volume Between Audio Files

Most of the most popular programs that burn audio CDs have optional settings for leveling or equalizing the volume between the songs in a playlist or burn list. Here's a quote from Windows Media Player Help:

The volume leveling feature functions by reading a volume leveling value in a Windows Media or MP3 file and then adjusting playback volume accordingly. The feature only supports files that are in Windows Media or MP3 format and that contain a volume leveling value.

To turn on volume leveling in Windows Media Player, do the following in the player:

Click on View;
Go to Enhancements;
Click on Crossfading and Auto Volume Leveling.

Unless you change it, that setting will remain for all future playlist and burn lists.

To show or hide the Crossfading and Auto Volume Leveling pane, do the following in Windows Media Player:

Click on View;
Go to Enhancements;
Click on Show Enhancements to place or remove a checkmark there. Back to menu

Tidy Up Your Library

In Windows Media Player, it might be easier for you to deal with the audio files that you want to burn if, when you add them to the Library, they're the only files in the library All Music folder. If you want to empty the All Music folder by organizing its files into playlists, do the following in Windows Media Player:

Make playlist folders for groups of any audio files that you want to keep in the Windows Media Player library and that appear in the All Music folder:
1. Click on the Library tab;
2. In the left pane, right-click on My Playlists;
3. Click on New;
4. In the New Playlist pane that appears to the far right, click on New Playlist;
5. Click on Save Playlist As;
6. In the Save As dialogue box, in the File name slot, type in a name for your new playlist;
7. Repeat the above steps anytime you want to make a new playlist folder.
Move the audio files that you want to keep in the library from the All Music folder to your playlist folder(s):
1. Click on the Library tab;
2. In the left pane, click on the All Music folder;
3. In the right pane, click on the file(s) that you want to add to a playlist (to select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard; or to select all, first select one file, and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key);
4. Right-click on the file(s) that you selected;
5. Go to Add to;
6. Click on Additional Playlists;
7. In the Add to Playlist dialogue box, scroll to the Playlist to which you want to move a file(s), and click on it;
8. Click on the OK button.
Delete any audio files that you don't want to keep in the Windows Media Player library and that appear in the All Music folder:
1. Click on the Library Tab;
2. In the left pane, click on the All Music folder, and be careful that another playlist or folder is not selected instead (you don't want to accidentally delete the media files in another folder of your library);
3. In the right pane, click on an audio file to select it (to select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard; or to select all, first select one file, and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key);
4. Right-click on the file(s) that you selected;
5. Select Delete;
6. Select Delete from Library only (this is very important; you don't want to accidentally delete the files from your hard drive as well);
7. Click on the OK button.
Optional: If you want to keep audio files that play in the player from being added to the library automatically, do the following in Windows Media Player:
1. Click on Tools;
2. Click on Options;
3. Click on the Player tab;
4. Uncheck Add music files to library when played. Back to menu

Add to a Playlist the Audio Files That You Want to Burn

This is an optional step, but it's a good way to have a reference to all the audio files that you're thinking of burning:

After you've added your audio files to the Windows Media Player library, click on the Library tab;
In the left pane, click on the All Music folder;
In the right pane, click on the file(s) that you want to put in a playlist (to select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard; or to select all, first select one file, and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key);
Right-click on the file(s) that you selected;
Go to Add to;
Click on Additional Playlists;
Do a or b below:
1. Add the file(s) to a playlist that you've already created by doing the following:
  In the Add to Playlist dialogue box, scroll to the playlist to which you want to move the file(s), and click on that playlist;
  Click on the OK button.
2. Or, add the file(s) to a new playlist by doing the following:
  In the Add to Playlist dialogue box, click on the New button;
  Type a name for your new playlist;
  Click on the OK button. Back to menu

A Few Tips about Playlists

Until you manually rearrange the files in a playlist, a playlist will keep its files in the order in which you added the files to the playlist. But that doesn't mean that you can add files to a playlist only one by one. To select multiple files, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard; or to select all, first select one file, and then use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key.

There are more options for sorting files in the All Music folder of the library than there are in a playlist. You might want to sort your files in the All Music folder before you add them to a playlist.

To sort the files in the All Music folder, do the following:

Click on the Library tab;
In the left pane, click on the All Music folder;
Click on Library Options;
Click on Group by Sorted Field to checkmark it;
Where you see Title, Artist, Rating, Genre, Length, and File Name, click on whichever one of those you want to sort by.

To manually rearrange the files in a playlist, right-click on a file and click on Move Up or Move Down. Back to menu

Hide or Show the Far-right (Blue) Pane in the Library

To hide or show the far-right (blue) pane in the library, do the following:

Click on the Library tab;
Click on Library Options;
Click on Show List. Back to menu

Tip: If You Close Windows Media Player, Your Burn List Will Be Lost

I wanted you to know this, but it's easy enough to recreate a burn list if you need to. Back to menu

Save Your Revised Burn List to a Playlist for Easy Future Burning

Because a playlist will keep your files in the order in which you added them to the playlist (unless you rearrange them manually), you might want to save your revised and ready burn list to a new playlist for ease in burning the same playlist again in the future:

Click on the Burn tab;
Click on an item in the Burn list to select it;
Select all: use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + a; that is, on your keyboard, press the a key while holding down the Ctrl key;
Right-click on the file(s) that you selected;
Go to Add to;
Click on Additional Playlists;
In the Add to Playlist dialogue box, click on the New button;
Type a name for your new playlist;
Click on the OK button. Back to menu

Home and Main Menu - Resources - More - Search - About - Help - Contact

CatholicAnew.com