How Do You Rip a CD to MP3 Format?

If you have an Apple iPod, all you have to do is put a CD in your computer's CD drive, and copy the tracks to iTunes. They will then be drag-and-drop uploadable to your iPod - but will not be in MP3 format.

If you have another MP3 player or want to make sure that your files are in MP3 format, there are many free "rippers" available for download on the Web that will record your music on your hard drive in MP3 format.

One such "ripper" is FreeRIP, which lets you record tracks into .wav format, then convert them to MP3 or Ogg Vorbis format.

Another one that is not free, but encodes directly to MP3 format is GoGo CD to MP3 Ripper. It runs for about $25, and can also convert .wav to MP3 and back if you so desire.