Over the past year or so I have ripped most of my CD's to my lap top
using Windows Media Player.  I have just purchased an ipod for my
holiday and obviously need to transfer music onto it.  Obviously I
need to install iTunes to do this.  My question is will I have to
re-rip the CD's into iTunes - as obviously a very long winded
process!! Or is there anyway of transferring everything I have already
ripped from my Windows Media Library - straight onto iTunes?  I am a
bit dense when it comes to computers (!!!!) - I know the basics, but
if the answer could be in idiot form so I understand it would be
appreciated!! Thanks

Hello es24-ga,

Thank-you for your question.

Luckily you do not need to duplicate the work you have already done
and importing the music into iTunes could not be much easier (if the
music files are in the correct format)!  Simply follow the steps below
and your music library will be set up in iTunes.

1) Open iTunes and click on the Library link down the left hand side
of the program.

2) Open the folder where your music is on your laptop and select the
music you wish to import into iTunes (this can be either individual
files or whole folders of music).

3) Drag the selected files across onto the iTunes window and another
smaller window will pop-up showing you the transfer is taking place.

4) After a period of time, depending on the number of files you are
importing into iTunes, your music will be shown in iTunes and the
process is complete.

If you require any further assistance on this subject please do not
hesitate to ask for clarification.

Further information on this technique can be found here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93390

---

Clarification of Answer by palitoy-ga on 01 Jun 2006 08:59 PDT

I forgot to post this link in my answer which describes the adding of
media files to iTunes on the Apple website:

"iTunes creates an index of all music, audio book, video, and PDF
files that are added to iTunes so you can access them quickly. This
index is called the iTunes Library. When you add something to the
library, essentially you are taking existing audio or movie files and
adding an entry for each to your iTunes Library index. The files can
be in your Home folder, somewhere else on your hard drive, on an
external hard disk, or even on another computer that you are accessing
through file sharing.

If you want to add files to your iTunes library, you can drag files
from the Finder to the Library icon in the Source list, or choose Add
to Library (on Windows, choose Add File to Library or Add Folder to
Library) from the File menu in iTunes and then select the song file or
folder you want to add. iTunes adds entries in your iTunes library for
the selected files, and copies the files to your iTunes Music folder
(if you have that option selected in the Advanced tab of iTunes
preferences)."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=301509

It really depends on what file format that it is in. As the posted
answer says you can drag anddrop. But this can only be done
successfully if the file format is in an .mp3 file format. You may
have ripped the CD into a .wma (defualt setting for Windows Media
Player) which isn't compatible with the IPod. The easiest way to check
is to find a music file, right click and select properties, this will
tell you what file format it is.

Itunes can solve this though. Go into iTunes and go file import and
it'll change the files automatically, although you wont be able to
play them through Windows Media Player any more.

You could like you mentioned rip them again, you can delete them a rip
them as .mp3's. Tools, Options Rip.... (Only on Windows Media Player
10) or a premium tool for older versions.