Burning CDs in Windows Media Player
Learn why the Player stops while inspecting files for burning, what to do when a track (or tracks) won't fit onto a CD, and other tips for burning CDs in Windows Media Player.
Answers refer to Windows Media Player 10, unless otherwise noted.
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Why does the Player stop while inspecting tracks for burning?
Windows Media Player "inspects" the tracks in your Burn list to verify that the files can be burned to a CD. If the Player detects that one (or more) of the tracks in your Burn list can't be burned, it may simply stop. If this occurs, you'll need to review the files, either by playing them and/or viewing their properties, to find the file (or files) that are causing the problem, and then either fix the problem or remove the problem file from the Burn list.
The Player may stop during the inspecting phase if it encounters any of the following issues:
| • | A file is protected and you don't have a license to use the file. To solve this problem, connect to the Internet, and then play the file. The Player might be able to automatically download a license from the content provider. If you can't acquire the license, you may need to purchase a new copy of the file from a content provider. If you have an audio CD that contains the song, you can rip the song from the CD, making sure that copy protection is turned off, and then add the ripped track to your Burn list. |
| • | A file is protected and the associated license doesn't permit you to burn the file to an audio CD. To confirm this, right-click the file, click Properties, and then click the License tab. In the License details box, verify that burning is allowed. If the license doesn't permit burning, you might be able to purchase a new copy of the file from a content provider that allows you to burn it to CD. |
| • | A file is encoded with a codec that doesn't exist on your computer. Connect to the Internet, and then try to play the file. The Player might be able to automatically download the required codec or point you to a Web site where you can obtain it. For more information about acquiring codecs, see the column, "Codecs for Windows Media Player," in the Media Advice archive. |
| • | A file is corrupted. Try to play the file—if the file is damaged or corrupted, the Player might display an error message that indicates this. You will need to purchase a new copy of the file from a content provider or rip a new copy of the song from a CD. |
| • | The Player can't locate a file. In this case, the path information for the file that is stored in the library doesn't match the actual location of the file on the computer. Try to fix this issue by moving any file to the location specified by its path. For more information about configuring your library to display path information for your files, see the question, "How can I view the path and file names for files in my library?" in the Media Advice archive. |
| • | A file contains content that's different than what the file name extension suggests. For example, a Windows Media Audio file with a .wma extension may actually be a Real Audio file with a .ra file name extension that has been renamed to .wma. Try to play the file. If the file type and file name extension doesn't match, the Player might display a message that indicates this. You will need to purchase a copy of the file with a valid file name extension (either .wma or .mp3) from a content provider. |
| • | You are trying to burn an audio CD and a file in the Burn list isn't a supported audio file. For example, you may have included pictures (.jpg files) in your Burn list. You either need to remove these files or burn a data CD; only choose to burn a data CD if you're sure that the CD player you intend to use supports it. For more information, see the next question. |
What can I do when the Player reports that the tracks I've selected won't fit on the CD?
If you're trying to burn an audio CD (audio CDs are similar to those that you buy), there's nothing you can do. When Will not fit appears next to selected items in the Items to Burn pane in the Player, those selected items are not burned to the CD. Remember that Will not fit appears next to selected tracks for audio CDs even if the total time of the tracks that you selected exactly matches the CD length, because the Player inserts two seconds between the tracks that it burns to a CD.
If your CD player can play data CDs, or if you intend to play the CD in your computer's CD drive, then you have the option to burn a data CD, instead of an audio CD. Data CDs can contain more than eight hours of music, depending upon the quality level (bit rate) used to burn the files and the file types. Be aware, however, that you most likely will not be able to play files purchased from content providers on a data CD because the Player won't burn the license associated with the file to the data CD. For more information, see "What types of CDs can the Player burn?" in the Windows Media Player FAQ.
Why can't I burn additional tracks to a CD that I've already burned?
When you burn an audio CD in Windows Media Player, the Player always closes, or "finalizes", the CD at the end of the burning session, regardless of how much storage space remains on the CD. Therefore, you can't record to a closed disc again.
However, if you used a "rewritable" compact disc (CD-RW) in a CD-RW drive, you can erase the disc and then burn the original tracks, along with additional tracks, to the disc, provided there is space available. Note that you can't erase a CD-RW disc that is in a "recordable" (CD-R) drive.
When you burn a data CD in the Player, it doesn't close the disc, so you can record more tracks to the disc later, even multiple times, until the disc is full. If you decide that you want to take advantage of this feature, make sure that the CD player that you intend to use for playback can play data CDs. For more information, see the previous question.
How can I reduce the length of an audio track or split a track so that it will fit on a CD?
You can adjust the length of WMA files using the Windows Media File Editor tool. To shorten a file, trim a file's end point, or trim the start and end points to create a file segment. Windows Media File Editor modifies the original source file without re-encoding it, so you must make changes to a copy of the file if you want to save the original. This tool is installed with Windows Media Encoder; to download and install Windows Media Encoder, see the Windows Media Encoder 9 Series Web page.
Windows Movie Maker is designed for capturing and editing video; however, you can also use it to edit audio files, or "clips". Movie Maker encodes new files from the segments you create (so you don't need to worry about saving the original file), and it provides audio effects so that the volume fades in and out at the beginning and end of your file segments. You can use Movie Maker to trim a file's end point so that it will fit on a CD, or you can split a clip into two clips, and then burn the resulting files to separate CDs. To split an audio clip in Movie Maker and save the resulting clips as WMA files, do the following:
1. | In Windows Movie Maker, on the File menu, click Import into Collections. | ||||
2. | Locate and select the audio file, and then click Import. | ||||
3. | In the monitor (the right side of Movie Maker), click Play and then pause playback at the point where you want to split the clip, or drag the slider to the point where you want to split the clip. | ||||
4. | Under the monitor on the right side, click the Split button. The audio clip will be separated into two audio clips in the Contents pane. | ||||
5. | Click and drag the first audio clip that you want to save from the Contents pane to the Audio/Music track on the timeline. (If the timeline isn't visible, on the View menu, click Timeline.) | ||||
6. | (Optional) To make sure the volume fades in and out at the beginning and end of the files, click the clip on the timeline, and then add an audio effect by doing one (or both) of the following:
For example, if you split an audio clip into two parts, you may want to add the Fade Out effect to the first clip and the Fade In effect to the second clip. | ||||
7. | On the File menu, click Save Movie File. | ||||
8. | In the Save Movie Wizard, select My computer as the saving option, and then follow the steps in the wizard to save the resulting WMA file to your computer. You can save the file to your My Music folder, add the file to your library in Windows Media Player, and then burn the WMA file from your library to a CD. Note that if you select Recordable CD as the saving option in Movie Maker, the wizard will automatically create a data CD that includes the WMA file. Therefore, only choose this option if you're sure that your CD player/drive can play WMA files. | ||||
9. | Remove the first clip from the timeline, click and drag the second audio clip to the Audio/Music track on the timeline, and then repeat steps 6-8 to save the second audio clip as a WMA file and eventually burn it to a CD. |
Note that you can split a file segment into two parts to create even smaller files (if necessary). For more information, see "Splitting and combining clips" in Windows Movie Maker Help.
How can I automatically burn my favorite songs from my library to a CD?
You can burn tracks that are in a "Favorites" auto playlist to a CD by following these steps:
1. | In Windows Media Player, click Library. |
2. | In the Contents pane (the left side of Library), right-click one of your "Favorites" auto playlists (for example, Favorites -- 4 and 5 star rated), and then click Add to Burn List. The list of songs to burn appears in the Burn list (the right side of Library). The contents of auto playlists change whenever you change tracks in your library by adding, removing, or playing them. So if you select the same auto playlist to burn to another CD later, a different set of tracks may be displayed in the Burn list. |
3. | Burn the CD. For more information, see "Burning your own CD" in Windows Media Player Help. |
How can I use my Nero CD-burning software to burn tracks from the library in the Player?
Ahead Software, the makers of Nero, have a plug-in available that enables Windows Media Player 9 Series to burn CDs at full speed, and provides the option of eliminating the two-second gap between audio tracks while burning. Note that the plug-in is only supported in Windows Media Player 9 Series; if you try to use it with any other version of the Player (including Windows Media Player 10), you may have unexpected results.
The Nero Fast CD-Burning Plug-in is available at no charge from the WMPlugins.com Web site.
If you don't find the answer to your question in this column, be sure to check the Archive. Media Advice is not an official Microsoft Support channel. If you need immediate help for an urgent problem, we recommend that you visit Microsoft Help and Support.