Service Pack 2 eviscerated me

[Ymir's blood]

Yesterday I decided to go ahead bite the bullet, cast my fortune to the wind and install Service Pack 2.

OMFG... :verysick:

Windows Media player got 'updated' in such a way that it would no longer rip CDs. It went from version 8 to 10.) I checked the Microsoft site to see if it had the needed plug in. They didn't have one, but linked to sites that were selling them. So, the 'upgrade' took away functionality and I have to pay to get it back? :wtf:

There were some other things going screwy, such as my firewall not being able to launch and stuff in general loading slower, acting sluggishly, etc... I had to remove new shortcuts from the Quick Launch bar, twice!

I uninstalled the Serivce Pack and that got Media Player 8 back and sped everything back up. The firewall had to be reinstalled though. However, Media Player STILL won't rip CDs. It says a 'codec' is missing.

Can Media Player be repaired? I won't pay money to fix it. If that were the only option, I'd rather pay for another player, Media Player (and MS in general) have really pissed me off.

I've downloaded the freebie version of WinAmp, but only the pay version will rip CDs. Any suggestions on a course of action? Is WinAmp worth paying for, stable, etc?

My experience with Music Match has been very negative. It kept trying to associate it will all sound files despite me saying 'no.' The last straw when it tried to connect to the 'net after all that stuff was unchecked. (The firewall stopped it and notified me.)

[HelenM]

Perhaps if you upgraded to media player 9 that would fix media player. I think I've made a CD with media player 9 (if that's what 'rip' a CD means).

I've never heard anything good about service pack 2 so I haven't installed it.

Helen

[Ymir's blood]

Actually, 'rip' is the opposite. Ripping involves taking tracks off of a CD and converting them to mp3 (or whatever) format.

[Shake]

Heh. My media player keeps getting me to try to upgrade to v.10 as well, but I've been ignoring it. Also, I'll echo what Helen said about SP2. Wish there was an ignore function for "upgrades" as well! ;)

[HelenM]

Actually, 'rip' is the opposite. Ripping involves taking tracks off of a CD and converting them to mp3 (or whatever) format.

Oh, thanks for explaining. All I did with media player 9 was save some already created mp3s to disc.

I have an ipod so I use itunes for converting tracks off CDs into compressed format.

(My son one-ups me on this - he has two ipods - he just bought an ipod shuffle and he already had a regular ipod)

Helen

[Ymir's blood]

I'm hoping to get an iPod when my tax return comes in. That's one reason why this is bugging me so much. :\

[pescifish]

I have an ipod so I use itunes for converting tracks off CDs into compressed format.Helen, can iTunes produce mp3 files?

[HelenM]

I have an ipod so I use itunes for converting tracks off CDs into compressed format.Helen, can iTunes produce mp3 files?

Yes: it has five choices of format that it converts the files into and one of them is mp3.

Helen

[copiae]

I installed SP2 on a tablet PC...

It was the greatest thing since sliced bread*!

Anyway, if you want a freeware cd-ripper:

http://www.audiograbber.com-us.net/

Alternatively, now that you have DSL, download the CD's that you want to rip :)




*seriously. It rocked! the new character recognition system was worth the upgrade alone, however, Microsofts integrated security center thingie is really annoying...

[Goddess Heidi]

Ive got SP2 & upgraded Windows Media - Never had any problems with any of it!! Could it be a conflict with other software youre running???

[Ymir's blood]

Apparently, the codec that Media Player was using to rip CDs was supplied by Dell. The Service Pack must have removed the codec or made it unusable. Most likely, I'll just get the full edition of WinAmp. It is supposed to rip a lot faster than Media Player did anyway. I've been playing with the freebie version and it seems pretty good. Nice to be able to change the skin on the 'full' window.

[TomJoe]

I've downloaded the freebie version of WinAmp, but only the pay version will rip CDs. Any suggestions on a course of action? Is WinAmp worth paying for, stable, etc?


iTunes.

Or...

Nero.

[Petra]

Service Pack 2 messed with my stuff, too. But then I discovered I had a virus, so that may have had a lot to do with it, as well. Since reformatting my drive a couple of weeks ago and loading all the windows updates before loading any further software (and updating all that additional software) my pc now works like a dream - super clean and super quick.

[Ray]

CD-DA X-Tractor (http://xtractor.sourceforge.net/) is a free CD ripper.