How can I get my portable CD player to recognise a copied relaxation CD ???

[gingeroots]

I have a relaxation CD given out in a group therapy session .
It's not a commercially produced one , it's one made by the facilitator running the course .
Presumably it's a copy .

I bought a CD player to play it on so that I can listen to it next week when I have to spend time in hospital .

But I don't think the player recognises the format .

Do I have to download original CD onto laptop and copy it onto another disc ???

Please help ,I'm afraid I have little knowledge in this area .

TIA

There's different formats of CDs (blank ones) such as CD-R, CD+RW etc (all a bit confusing) so it may just be bad luck that your CD player doesn't recognise the particular CD. Have you got another player you could try it on? Will it play on your laptop? And you could also check to make sure it has actually been burnt as an audio CD, not a data CD in which case the files would have .mp3 next to them.

We had two really cheap CD players that wouldn't play copied CDs at all: both from supermarkets I think.

LegArmpots is right with what to do here. Check its not a data CD, and then try using a different type of blank CD.

The relaxation CD will play on my lap top and also on a larger CD /radio player we have .

I'm not entirely sure about how to check whether it's been burnt as an audio CD .

I've downloaded it onto my laptop and clicked on the properties tab and it says M4A file .

Can I copy it somehow on to a different blank CD ( if so what kind ? ) in an effort to render it readable by CD player ????

bump ?

Use your laptop to 'rip' the CD using Windows Media Player. Then grab a blank CD and again using WMP, burn the copied tracks to the blank CD.

I agree, use Windows Media Player (assuming your laptop is running Windows) and use the RIP option to copy the tracks to your library (you may have done this already).
Then use a black CD-R disc... try burning the disc using Windows Media Player. Set the options such that it burns at not the highest speed your CD-burner will do... set at say 12x (or if it says Fastest, Fast, Medium, Slow, select Medium) so that it does it fairly quick but with luck well enough that other CD players pick up the tracks correctly. Make sure the option is selected to make Audio CD, rather than Data.

Do not use a CD+RW or CD-RW blank disc.

I was surprised to read that you could play the CD on a bigger CD player. The format M4A is used by Apple. The format obviously plays on a PC/Laptop but I wasn't aware that there are CD players available that will play this format.

I'm not sure that the above ripping advice will work. If it does then no need to read further.

ITunes is free to download if you haven't got it already. You can load the CD onto iTunes. Get iTunes to convert it to MP3. Then get iTunes to burn you a new CD. It's all in iTunes HELP.

Thank you every one very much .

Think I will go down the iTunes route .

You know what groupie...I think I'm wrong about it playing on the larger CD player

Sorry ,didn't mean to confuse ...stressed at moment ,must listen to relaxation tape ...

... alternatively, you can drag the tracks onto your phone and play it from there.

oooh you misjudge me ,my integration into the modern world and my technical skills

I don't have that kind of phone ,only a basic PAYG Nokia .

Hence portable CD player and quest for advice .

I don't think it will help to burn it onto another CD.

What does the CD say on it? Does it say CD-R, CD+R or CD-RW or CD+RW?

If it's RW at the end then it's worth trying with a CD-R or CD+R, if you can get hold of one! If not then you're fighting a losing battle. Most CD players don't have support for recorded CDs.

I'd try and get hold of a cheap MP3 player (argos) or even an old tape walkman if it will play in your big CD player. Then either rip the tracks onto your computer (Windows Media Player will rip to MP3 so no need to download iTunes) or record it onto the tape and play it like that.

Do you know the model number of your phone? It might do music even if you don't think it does :)

It will help to burn it onto another disc if done with"music" software (iTunes should do the trick). A straightforward copy of the disc with windows explorer probably wouldn't work though.

My portable CD player which I bought last week from Argos ( their most expensive one at £20 - how swanky am I ! ) has details about creating a MP3 CD for playing on it .

Windows Media Player will rip to MP3. Have a play with the settings. You may need to add some track details such as name and number, you can do this in media player or using the file property view once mp3 files have been created.
Follow instructions given in the player manual for how to make a data cd it will read.

Start by getting some CD-R discs and seeing if your computer can write to them. They are Use Once discs so if you make a mistake, chuck and start again.

Thanks nanny ( and everyone else ) I went with your suggestion and ...success !

Oh I see. I assumed that the course leader would have copied it using WMP or similar - evidently they didn't. Glad it worked! :) OP I would mention it to the course leader in case any other people have the same problem.

That's a good point Yoni ,I know someone else was having trouble .
An older person like myself .
Is that what I need to say - it wouldn't play on my machine and I've been told it would be better if copied using WMP or similar ?

Yep - I'd just mention to them that it wouldn't play and say if you copy the CD using WMP it should be compatible with most CD players.

They might not have had the issue if most people copy it to an ipod or similar but like you say some older people or people who don't have ipods might want to use it on a CD player.