Newbie wanting to backup Music CDS and also convert them to MP3s

[tamba1]

Please bear with me as Im a newbie to this..I have read loads of references online about various tools to help to the things below many of them free others not, but I guess I am too overloaded with info now..

I have read lots of references in this site too and looked at the many diff free downloads available with great reviews, but as I am new to this I don't know which to choose or even how..??? On one site there were lots of peeps recommending a product called Tunebite, then on another site peeps saying no way dont load it it killed my PC's .. some of the posts are 3 years or so old so I am guessing some/most of the info therein is going to be out of date So for a newbie this is a bit of a minefield..

All I want to do is VERY basic I'm sure

1. make backups of my current Music CDs some recent ( including copyright protection ) others going back a number of years now ..

2. Convert some of these into MP3 files and Burn a CD of those for backup

3. Play the backed up music files in other CD players and more specifically the car player..

None of my existing cd backups ( dating back a number of years) have ever played in the car CD player or certain standalone CD players.. having researched I think I see my mistake, embarassingly it would appear that my backup copy was a data cd not an audio one... Sure everyone will think I am a twit now, but at the time I guess I assumed it was a technology issue causing the problem as the music played fine on my PC and to me at the time that meant it was an Audio recording ..hmm this sounds so STUPIDLY obvious now. Its funny how over the years I have lost count of the number of peeps I know who have had the same problem and we all just assumed it was just old technology not working with new technology ..

1. I have some shop bought DVDs I would like to backup too, and have no idea how to do this as I assume they are copyright protected.. I know there is siftware that temporarily removes the protection enabling you to make a backup but again where do I start..

2. I have some shop bought videos I would like to backup to DVD especially as some of them may not last all that much longer and again have no idea how to ..

3. Finally can you recommend userfriendly software ( junkfree) that will make compiling MP3 collections and transferring them to an MP3 player hassle free..

I am running winvista Home Premium

So I hope you forgive my stupidity for my earlier mistakes and someone will be kind enough to help me with UPTODATE info on how to do the above things..

Thanks in advance for your time and assistance

I look forward to your replies
tamba1

[Da_Taxman]

A lot of questions and I can understand the confusion, these topics have been discussed here many times and things are also a matter of personal opinions.

For audio backup and ripping to MP3, I stick with www.exactaudiocopy.de (free) and the LAME encoder (for mp3 conversion).

For DVD backup I stick with DVDFab Platinum (not free), but there are free alternatives as well (check out our DVD copy forum for that).

As for the other questions, I know little to nothing…and all I can do is recommend searching this forum for previous discussions…if that doesn’t help you find an answer, it may help you specify your question further…

[Arachne]

[QUOTE=Da_Taxman;2221927]
For audio backup and ripping to MP3, I stick with www.exactaudiocopy.de (free) and the LAME encoder (for mp3 conversion).

For DVD backup I stick with DVDFab Platinum (not free), but there are free alternatives as well (check out our DVD copy forum for that).[/QUOTE]

Ditto on both counts

For burning mp3 files back to regular CD audio, I use Burrrn - small, free, and dead easy to use

For best compatibility with picky players, I’d suggest using top grade media (find Taiyo Yuden CDRs online, or look in any B&M store for CDRs “Made in Japan”). Burn these at 16x.