Tip #3034 - Get Music on MP3 Player
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Q:
Can you tell me how to actually get my music onto my MP3 player? I've
been trying for awhile now, but it just doesn't seem to be working. Please
help!
A:
We've had several people ask that just this week, so this is perfect timing.
I was actually on the phone yesterday with a customer who was having trouble
with this. After that, I figured I should put an article together about
it so I could help anyone else who was running into problems. Keep reading
to learn the exact procedure you can use to add music to your MP3 player,
with no hassle!
Before being able
to listen to music on your new MP3 player, there are a few procedures
you should be familiar with to make the process more successful. Here
we go!
1. If you are a Windows
98 Second Edition user, you must install the drivers in order for the
MP3 player to be seen by your PC and work properly. Any older operating
systems are not going to work for an MP3 player. The drivers are on the
accompanying CD and have an easy to follow install wizard that should
walk you through the driver install.
2. Before you put
any music or audio files onto your MP3 player, you have to have music
and audio files available on your PC. For instance, if you have a music
CD that you would like to transfer the music from to your MP3 player,
you are should first “rip” the music into an MP3 format on
your PC’s hard drive. This can be done by using Windows Media Player
10 (or above) and by following the instructions laid out in this other
article.
Note:
The above article does not use MP3 as the format, but that can be easily
fixed by opening up your Windows Media Player 10 (or 11) and go to Tools,
Options. From there, select the Rip Music
tab and there you will see the format selection pull down menu. Choose
MP3 for the best results.
One More Note:
On older CDs, there may not be any information that the computer
can read, such as the track, artist, album, etc. In this case, you should
add the information yourself, so you don't just have list after list of
unknown information.
3. When ripping the
music, you really want to make sure you know where you put the music (the
default is the My Music folder in the My Documents
folder, right off of the Start menu). This is
important to remember so you can find it when you want to transfer it
to your MP3 player.
4. Okay, so now we
have the drivers installed (if you have Windows 98) and we have our music
ripped to our hard drive, so we are ready to connect the MP3 player and
transfer the files.
5. When you first
connect the MP3 player, Windows should pop up with a window that asks
you to choose what you would like to do with the device you just connected.
Note:
If this is the first time you connect the MP3 player to the PC, you may
have to wait awhile. Windows will install its drivers for it, but that
should only happen the first time you connect the MP3 player to the machine.
6. Once Windows opens
the MP3 player, you are basically looking at a folder with basic audio
files in it. Next, all you have to do is locate the music you want to
transfer to the MP3 player ( which will probably be the music you ripped
to your PC earlier in the process). Again, the default location is the
My Music folder in the My Documents folder. Open the folder with the music
you want, select it, copy them and then go back to the window that represents
the MP3 player and paste the files there. Once the process
bar has disappeared, the transfer should be complete and the MP3 player
is ready to go.
Note:
I think it’s easier to open up both folders and then right click
on your toolbar to select the “Tile Windows Vertically“
option. This makes it very easy to simply drag and drop the files right
from the My Music folder onto your MP3 player.
7. Disconnect the
MP3 player from the PC and power it up. You may notice that the library
is updating from the message that appears on the screen. It will show
the music finalizing the transfer. Once that's done, you should be able
to see and play the audio files you just dumped onto your MP3 player.
Remember, if you never labeled the tracks and albums when it was ripping,
they are not going to have any album information to display other than
“Unknown Artist.”
That pretty much does
it, but here are a few other articles that may help you complete this
process even faster and easier:
Learn all about the
different kinds of media files and players here.
Learn some digital
audio player basics here.
Hope this helps clear
some things up for you! Happy MP3ing!
~ Chad
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