What type of file extension is used by Media Player 9 for album art
that is retrieved from the net and where are those files stored on the
pc?

Hello Capperdog

The filetype that is used by Media Player 9 is a JPG format.  This is
a standard image file and it is stored in the same directory/folder as
your music files for that album.  According to the link below it
should be named "Folder.jpg".

There is a very interesting and useful article on this on the
Microsoft website here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/windowsmediaplayer/getstarted/usinglibrary.mspx

In particular it states:

"If you copied a large portion of your CD collection to your PC before
you installed Windows XP [..] you can go back and add album art if you
like[...]. Save each image as Folder.jpg when you place it in the
appropriate folder [where you stored your music]. Windows will
automatically use that image as the thumbnail for that folder and in
the Player if you choose to display album cover art instead of a
visualization."

A good place to find album artwork is the Gracenote cd database that
is located here:
http://www.gracenote.com/music/topten.html

Another great resource is the Amazon website that holds artwork for
most major albums.

Another hidden feature of Windows Media Player, like displaying the
album art, is its ability to display the lyrics of the song being
played.

If you have any further questions on this subject please ask for
clarification and I will do my best to help.

Other Useful Links:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306703
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;306734
http://www.freepctech.com/pc/xp/xp00040.shtml

As I understand it, they are JPG files, the files are stored in the
same directory as your CD.

The files are hidden by default settings.
To change the settings so that you can view them, you must open
Windows Explorer (My Computer) and hit Tools-Folder options, View tab.
Choose to SHOW hidden files and folders, and UNcheck hide protected
operating system files.

My name is Dreamboat.

Thanks for the awesome info--Worked like a champ