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Music can calm your nerves or energize your spirit, and, according to Thoreau, it is the universal language. So mastering the musical media features of your Windows XP computer can make you a citizen of the world with a passport to unlimited listening pleasure.
Download a sound file
1. Depending on how the Web site you're visiting has set things up, you do one of the following:
• Click a download button or link and follow the instructions for selecting a destination location on your hard drive to download the file to.
• Right-click the sound file link and choose Save Target As. In the Save As dialog box that appears, use the Save In drop-down list to locate a place to save the file, enter a File Name, and click Save. A dialog box shows the download progress; when it's completed, click the Open button. A player which the sound file is set up to use, such as MusicMatch Jukebox or Windows Media Player, will open and play the file.
• Click the sound file link, and a download dialog box opens. Follow the steps in the preceding bullet to select a download location, name the file, and proceed with the download.
2. When the file finishes downloading, it might open and play automatically in a media player such as Windows Media Player. If it doesn't, you have to do one of the following actions:
• Locate the saved file by using Windows Explorer, and double-click it to play it.
• Open Windows Media Player, choose File --> Open, locate the file, and open it. Then use the player's tools to play the file.
If you have installed Windows Service Pack 2 on your computer, it might block some downloads. You can use settings in Internet Explorer to control how downloads are handled.
Create a playlist
1. Choose Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Entertainment --> Windows Media Player.
2. Click the Media Library item, and then click Playlist button and select New Playlist.
3. Enter the Playlist name and click OK.
4. Click a track in the left pane of the Media Library and it appears in the right pane. Click the title listed on the right, and then click the Add to Playlist button, and click the playlist that you want to add it to in the menu that appears.
5. Under My Playlists in the left pane, click a playlist.
All titles in the playlist appear in the list on the right. Now you can do a few different things to manage the playlist. Click a title to select it, and then follow any of these steps:
• Click the Delete button to remove the title from the playlist.
• Click the Move Up button to move it higher in the playlist.
• Click the Move Down button to move it further down in the playlist.
• Click on Media Details button. If you're connected to the Internet, the Album Information pane appears, providing information about the track and artist.
6. To play a playlist, double-click it.
You can rename or delete a playlist. Right-click the list under the My Playlists category in the left pane of the Media Library, and then choose Rename or Delete.
Copy music to a CD
1. Insert a blank CD suitable for storing audio files in your computer CD-RW drive.
2. Open the Windows Media Player, click the Media Library button, and then click an album or playlist to open it.
3. Click the Copy to CD or Device button on the left side of the player.
The titles on the currently open item appear in the left pane, and a Music on Device pane appears to the right.
4. Select the check box next to a title, and then click the Copy Music button.
The music is copied onto the CD.
Want to copy music from a CD into your Windows Media Player Library? Just put the CD in your computer drive and click the Copy from CD button on the left. When the list of titles on the CD appears, click to select the ones you want, and then click the Copy Music button in the top-right corner.
When you copy music to a CD, you create an exact copy, but if you copy music from a CD onto your computer, Windows Media Player automatically compresses it. That's because music files are big and can fill up your hard drive fast. Compressed music files lose some sound quality, but given the quality of your computer speakers, when you play music from your computer, you probably won't notice the difference.
If you're swapping music online through various music sharing services, then copying them to CD and passing them around to your friends, always do a virus check on the files before handing them off. Also, be sure you have the legal right to download and swap music with others.
Play music
1. Choose Start --> All Programs --> Accessories --> Entertainment --> Windows Media Player.
2. Click the Media Library button on the. Click an album or playlist to open it; the titles of the songs are displayed in the right pane.
3. Use the buttons here to do the following:
• Click a track, and then click the Play button to play it.
• Click the Stop button to stop playback.
• Click the Next or Previous buttons to move to the next or previous track in an album or playlist.
• Use the Mute and Volume controls to pump the sound up or down without having to modify the Windows volume settings.
Use the Quick Access drop-down list box in the top right area of the Windows Media Player. Click the arrow to quickly select a playlist.
Note that different skins display controls that have a different look. However, all is not lost. Until you get used to the new controls, just hover your mouse over each control and a ToolTip appears telling you which is which.
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