Transfer Music from Windows Media Player to iTunes

"I just got a new iPod Shuffle. All my music is currently in Windows Media Player, but I can't see it in iTunes. How can I transfer music from Windows Media Player to iTunes?"

If the songs you have in your Windows Media Player library are primarily stored in your My Music folder (or just Music in Windows Vista), you can automatically import everything into iTunes in a few simple steps. If you have music stored in other folders besides the My Music folder, you can repeat the same steps for each folder that has tracks you want to import. Follow the steps below to import your music to iTunes:

Convert AVI to iPod compatible MP4

"I downloaded a bunch of AVI movies from the Internet. How can I convert these AVI files to something I can watch on my iPod?"

I frequently mention WinFF as my favorite solution for converting files between various formats. Converting AVI files to the iPod compatible MP4 format is no exception. WinFF is the app that will do the trick with the least amount of effort. One of the reason's I'm picking WinFF to convert from AVI to MP4 is because it supports batch conversion, so you can line up 20 or 2000 videos to convert and walk away. When you're finished converting simply add the MP4 files to your iTunes library and sync your iPod to watch the movies on your iPod. Here's how it works...

How to Convert M4A to WMA

"All my music is saved as m4a and m4p files. I just bought a new phone that only plays wma music files, so I can't use any of my m4a and m4p music files on my computer. Is there a way I can convert these files from m4a and m4p so that they work with my new phone?"

Most m4a files are created when you use iTunes to rip CDs. iTunes Music Store is the most common source of m4p files. Each of these file types require different methods for converting to wma. Because the m4p files are protected with DRM, you have to play by the iTunes Music Store rules in order to convert them - in this case, the easiest way to go from m4p to wma is to burn an Audio CD in iTunes and then use Windows Media Player to rip that CD as wma files. Converting m4a files to wma is fully automated using my favorite freeware media converter, WinFF.

How can I make iTunes rip CDs as MP3s?

"When I rip my CDs with iTunes, the AAC files it creates won't work in my car's MP3 CD player. How can I rip CDs as MP3s instead of AAC files?"

Apple defaults to ripping AAC files because that's the format it encourages iPod owners to use. For maximum compatibility with devices like Sony's PSP, your car stereo, and even most non-iPod portable media players, MP3 is a safer choice.

Put Home Movies on Your iPod

"How can I put my home movies on my iPod? I edit my movies in Windows Movie Maker, but I can't add the files to iTunes to put them on my iPod. How can I get movies I made in Movie Maker to play back on my iPod?"

Windows Movie Maker saves files in two formats - either DV-AVI, which is the format compatible with your camcorder tapes; Movie Maker also outputs WMV files, which are compatible with things like Zune and Creative players, but not compatible with iPod players. In order to get your movies from Movie Maker to your iPod, you need to first convert the files to an iPod compatible file format.

Hotel Chevalier - Free Video Download

Director Wes Anderson of Royal Tenenbaums, Rushmore, and The Life Aquatic fame, offers a brilliant marketing piece for his new film The Darjeeling Limited. Hotel Chevalier is a 10 minute short film starring Jason Schwartzmann and Natalie Portman, setting the stage for the first act of The Darjeeling Limited. The marketing genius is Anderson and Fox Searchlight Pictures are giving away Hotel Chevalier free on iTunes. The short features Portman's character, the unnamed ex-girlfriend to Schwartzman's character Jack, coming to say goodbye on her way to the airport, which sets the stage for the events that take place in The Darjeeling Limited.

YamiPod

If you connect your iPod to more than one computer on a regular basis or if you move tracks between computers, you've seen the iTunes message offering to delete files from your iPod. This is theoretically Apple's way of protecting themselves from being associated with piracy, but it's a lousy user experience in almost every case. YamiPod provides a great alternative to the iTunes interface, running as a standalone app for managing songs on an iPod. You can even copy YamiPod to your iPod and run it from any computer. Copy songs to and from any Windows, Mac or Linux computer with YamiPod. Update and manage playlists. Play songs from your iPod through your computer speakers. Add lyrics to songs. Manage existing notes or add additional notes all from one central interface. YamiPod is a solid alternative to iTunes as an iPod interface, but you can use it in combination with iTunes so that you get the benefit of multiple computer connections as well as iTunes interfacing for paid downloads. [Windows/Mac OS X/Linux $0.00]

Adding iTunes Music to Windows Movie Maker Projects

Cristina writes, "I am making a Christmas slide show on my Windows Movie Maker but it absolutely will NOT let me import ANY of my Christmas music and U think I've tried everything. I tried dragging it from iTunes. I made a new folder on my desktop and tried getting the songs from there and still did NOT import. Now I understand that if the song is downloaded from a source it won't import because of its format but my songs are actually from a CD so I'm not sure what to do anymore."

Since you're importing songs from iTunes and they don't work, I'm going to assume you also ripped the CD of Christmas songs using iTunes. By default, iTunes rips CDs to the AAC format, which is a great format for storing music, but is also incompatible with Windows Movie Maker. Read on for two ways to solve your problem.

Burning iTunes Movies to DVD

Geoff writes, "I was wondering if there is a way to burn your purchased iTunes movies to DVD?"

Movie purchases from iTunes are protected with Apple's DRM, preventing you from burning them to DVD playable on a set top DVD player using software solutions like Nero, Roxio, etc. You can burn the movies as data files to back them up, storing them for recovery in the event of a hard drive failure. If you want to watch iTunes movies on your television, I recommend getting the iPod A/V Cable for your iPod and watching movies with iPod connected to television. The iPod scales video from the portable resolution to a television-quality resolution well enough for standard definition video playback. If you have an HD screen, turn off image stretching so that the video isn't distorted. If you're desperate for a way to burn those iTunes Movies to DVD, a set top DVD recorder is the way to go.

Copy Songs from iPod to Zune

Bebe asks, "Is it possible to transfer music from an iPod to a Zune?"

There's no direct way to copy files from an iPod to a Zune. Files purchased from iTunes music store will not play on a Zune, just as files purchased from Zune Marketplace won't play on an iPod. Using one of several combinations of software, you can get any MP3 files stored on an iPod onto a Zune.