digitalFAQ.com Forum - Windows Media Player 11 does not see new CD

continued from email...

Quote:

ls

small issue with WMP11

1) i launch WMP11
2) i put a cd into the cd drive
3) i choose the play cd menu option in WMP11
4) WMP11 loads up the tracks and searches the internet for the album info

so far so good

5) i remove that cd and put in another one

however, WMP11 does not "see" the new cd.
my XP sees it, at least explorer recognises up the new cd
so i think this is a WMP11 problem

hence, my question to you is, how do i force WMP11 to recognise the new cd?

currently, i'm closing down WMP11 and restarting it.

alternatively, if there is no solution, what other player/ripper can i
use to rip the tracks to mu hard drive?

basically want to save in mp3 format, at 320 Kbps.
if i can get the covers and extra track info (like artists, composer,
year etc), all the better.

would like the app to be freeware and slim, ie not bloatware.

ta for your help

What you're describing is a classic issue with Windows, especially Windows XP. The software has "locked" the drive for access, but when it is "unlocked" by the software (after the disc has finished whatever it was doing), the OS does not acknowledge the unlock status. Windows therefore does not see the new disc.

Many people will burn a DVD, and then put the burned DVD in the drive, and the burned DVD is blank -- or rather it looks blank. Windows does not know the drive was unlocked, or that a new disc was put into it, and therefore sees nothing.

Most software is smarter than this, such as DVD Decrypter, Nero or ImgBurn. Those programs don't really care what the OS thinks, being direct drive interfaces.

Since Windows Media Player (WMP 11) is essentially an extension of the Windows, it doesn't know any better either, and won't see the discs.

There's really no way around this, aside from a reboot. But that's not a good option here, you'd be aggravated in very short amount of time!

I suggest different software, something made for ripping audio CDs.

Use EAC (Exact Audio Copy) from http://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
It's freeware, and it works well. It can use the LAME encoder DLL, so you're free to encode directly to MP3, if that's the format you want. Just remember to use a good bitrate, not a weenie little 128kbps compression.

There's a related conversation going on here: MP3 for Archival Quality? Is MP3 a good CD backup?

I don't think it cares what the OS thinks either, so Windows hang-up with not understanding new discs after unlock won't affect your use of EAC. Before doing anything else, however, such as burning DVDs, you'll probably have to reboot.

Is this a Windows XP, Windows Vista or Window 7 computer? :confused:

I use Nero 6 for ripping audio to MP3, and have the paid Fraunhofer encoder. It's better than LAME, but most people won't really notice the difference. As long as it's personal backup, not something you'll distribute, the potential quality difference between the encoders won't really matter.

As stated in the related thread, the quality of MP3 played back really depends on the quality of your players anyway -- it's not completely an encoding issue.

Hope that helps solve your dilemma. :D