How To . . . Customize CD Player

If you own a multimedia-equipped PC (one with a sound card and a CD-ROM drive) then you probably know you can slip a favorite audio CD into the computer's CD drive and listen to your favorite tunes while tap-tap-tapping away at your keyboard.

But did you know you can customize the CD Player to play your favorite songs from your favorite recordings in the order you prefer? In fact, you can probably configure the Windows 95 (Win95) CD Player more easily than your home stereo.



Disabling Autoplay.

First of all, you may not want a CD to start playing as soon as you pop it in. You can change this either by disabling Autoplay temporarily or by resetting the default.

To temporarily disable Autoplay, just press the SHIFT key when you insert a CD.

To reset the default takes a bit more trouble, but not much.

1. Start by double left-clicking the My Computer icon.

2. On the Explorer's View menu, left-click Options, then select the File Types tab.

3. Scroll down to the AudioCD file type, select it, then left-click Edit.

4. In the Actions list, left-click Play, then Set Default. This operation is like turning a toggle switch off. To toggle it back on and return to Autoplay, simply follow the above steps again.



To play CDs with Autoplay off, open the CD Player accessory and click the Play arrow.



Creating A Play List.

Probably the best way to customize the CD Player is to create play lists, which are lists of tracks on a CD. To follow along, open up the CD Player. From the Start menu, select Programs, Accessories, then Multimedia. Then left-click the CD Player.

Next, slide an audio CD into your computer's CD-ROM drive.

Under the Disc menu, select Edit Play List from the window called Disc Settings. (Or you can left-click the paper and pencil icon.) At the top are fields for entering the Artist and Title of the recording. Type in that information.

CD Player lets you set up a customized Play List. We've programmed this Marvin Gaye song to play three times.

Below and to the left is the default Play List, which is the order of songs as they appear on the disc. This is the window you'll want to customize. On the right is the list of tracks available on the CD. The idea is to name the tracks, then program the CD Player to run them in a specific sequence.

Naming tracks. To name the first song on the disc, highlight Track 1. In the Track 01 field below, type the title of the song, then left-click Set Name. The song name will appear on both lists. Name all the tracks on your CD.

Removing tracks. The CD Player will play the songs just as they appear in the Play List, which at this point is in its regular order. But what if you don't like a certain track? Highlight it in the Play List, then left-click Remove. Now you won't have to hear that annoying tune. (You won't delete the song from the disc, just from the Play List.)

Reordering tracks. If you want to completely reorder the songs, press the Clear All button. Then from the Available Tracks list, highlight the song you want to hear first and drag it over to the Play List. (You also can move a track by double left-clicking or by highlighting it and pressing the Add button.) If you want to hear a song more than once, you can add it as many times as you want. Fill out your Play List to your heart's content. When you're satisfied with your mix, left-click OK. You now have a customized CD. The Win95 CD Player will remember this disc, too. Next time you pop it in the drive, it will play the tunes in the order you've specified.



Spinning Options.

Even if you don't set up a custom Play List, you can still hear songs play in varied sequence. Go to the Options menu and select Random Order. If you want a CD to play through several times, go to the Options menu and select Contin-uous Play. Or perhaps you're looking for a particular song. The Intro Play feature in the Options menu lets you skip through songs until you find the one you want. (Be sure to deselect Intro Play when you're ready for serious listening.)



Playing Preferences.

Also under the Options menu, the Preferences dialog box contains some straightforward console settings. If you check Stop CD Playing On Exit, the CD currently playing will quit when you close the CD Player window; otherwise, the CD will continue to play. The Preferences dialog box also lets you choose whether to save your settings upon exit and whether to show the Win95 tool tips. You also can set the play length for Intro Play and choose large or small fonts to display CD play times.

Now you can tap your foot while you type away at your PC!


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