# How do I make my Walmart wma's portable. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535 "2005-05-05T15:23:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reloy3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c68b51/32.png) [@Reloy3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reloy3)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/1 "2005-05-05T15:23:59Z")
Ok, I have the internet on one computer, and a cd burner on another. Today I decided to take a chance and purchased 4 songs from [Walmart.com](http://Walmart.com). Seemed alright, even though they came as WMA files instead of MP3s. I can handle that. The problem is, I had to download a liscence for them off of the internet to play them, and when I place the songs on a new computer, it won’t play. So, two questions: 1. How can I make them portable? Or did I just get screwed? ANd if so, what is the best way to legally purchase portable MP3s. 2. Can I easily convert these files to MP3s? I use MusicMatch. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Slant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mr.Slant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Slant)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/2 "2005-05-05T15:50:08Z")
I can back up my WMA licenses by using Tools -\> License Management in Windows Media Player. Perhaps you could use this to migrate your songs to another computer if need be? By the way, IANAL, but answering your second question may not be legal under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). Fair warning. ---
**Author:** ![MannyL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@MannyL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MannyL)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/3 "2005-05-06T01:24:43Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > Ok, I have the internet on one computer, and a cd burner on another. Today I decided to take a chance and purchased 4 songs from [Walmart.com](http://Walmart.com). Seemed alright, even though they came as WMA files instead of MP3s. I can handle that. The problem is, I had to download a liscence for them off of the internet to play them, and when I place the songs on a new computer, it won’t play. So, two questions: > 2) Can I easily convert these files to MP3s? I use MusicMatch. Thanks Sure you can “easily” convert them 1. take a long cable and run it from audio out on the system with the song to audio in on the other system. 2. Start a recording session on the system you want to record the song onto using your favorite sound records 3. Play the song on the first system By doing this you are going from Digital to Analog and losing some sounfd quality, but you are not (based on what I have read) violating the DMCA. ---
**Author:** ![Garfield226](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Garfield226](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Garfield226)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/4 "2005-05-06T02:09:13Z")
> [@Reloy3](#): > > If so, what is the best way to legally purchase portable MP3s. Depending on the kind of music you like, you could buy from [emusic.com](http://emusic.com). They sell plain old .mp3 files with no strings attached. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/5 "2005-05-06T14:12:05Z")
Another good option is [AllOfMP3.com](http://www.allofmp3.com) – they sell music in any format you want, and it’s dirt cheap to boot. ---
**Author:** ![Cynical\_Optimist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Cynical\_Optimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cynical_Optimist)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/6 "2005-05-06T15:06:32Z")
> [@MannyL](#): > > Sure you can “easily” convert them > > 1. take a long cable and run it from audio out on the system with the song to audio in on the other system. > > 2. Start a recording session on the system you want to record the song onto using your favorite sound records > > 3. Play the song on the first system > > By doing this you are going from Digital to Analog and losing some sounfd quality, but you are not (based on what I have read) violating the DMCA. That works fine for a small batch of songs. If you are going to do this frequently you can also try [Total Recorder](http://www.highcriteria.com/) ($12 shareware) which hasn’t run afoul of any legislation (unlike the infamous CloneCD). ---
**Author:** ![TJVM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b38774/32.png) [@TJVM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJVM)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/7 "2005-05-06T15:50:05Z")
Another option for converting the files to mp3 is to burn them to a CD (as an audio CD, not a data CD) and then rip the tracks back to an mp3 format. I think the latest version of Windows Media Player can rip tracks to mp3; if not, there are others out there, like the free iTunes software. Note that you lose some fidelity when you convert from one type of compression to another (such as wma to mp3) but whether you notice this will probably depend on how much of an audiophile you are. > [@](#): > > what is the best way to legally purchase portable MP3s. It’s going to be hard to find big-label music available (legally) in the mp3 format, because, as I understand it, mp3 does not accomodate DRM, and the big labels aren’t willing to sell their music without it. > [@](#): > > Another good option is [AllOfMP3.com](http://AllOfMP3.com) – they sell music in any format you want, and it’s dirt cheap to boot. I have no opinion on whether you should buy from [AllOfMp3.com](http://AllOfMp3.com), but the legality of doing that from the US is not clear (and I doubt that the RIAA would have any qualms about suing [AllOfMp3.com](http://AllOfMp3.com)’s customers in the US, if they could track them down). ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/8 "2005-05-06T19:33:57Z")
How to convert .wma’s to mp3 make a copy (a back up that is) highlight/select the track you wish to convert press f2 highlight the wma portion of the file name type mp3 and press enter. wma’s are just mp3’s that were given the wma file extension by microsoft to make life even more difficult. I dont know if this will fix your portability issue but you can find a very handy converter if you google for dbpoweramp and my personal choice in rippers is ezcddax ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/9 "2005-05-06T19:48:41Z")
> [@Critical1](#): > > How to convert .wma’s to mp3 > make a copy (a back up that is) > highlight/select the track you wish to convert > press f2 > highlight the wma portion of the file name > type mp3 and press enter. > > wma’s are just mp3’s that were given the wma file extension by microsoft to make life even more difficult. Absolute nonsense! ---
**Author:** ![arrosen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@arrosen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arrosen)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/10 "2005-05-06T20:19:35Z")
You could also use a tool called GraphEdit (search Google for it). It allows you to redirect the DirectX output from the WMA filter to a .wav or .mp3 file. BUT, the only LEGAL way is to burn it to a CD and then re-rip it. This goes for iTunes protected .aac files also. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/11 "2005-05-06T21:21:42Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Absolute nonsense! I just tried this and it worked (I use Windows Media Player 10 as the default player for MP3 & WMA). I did get a warning about the file extension not matching the file format and how it might produce unexpected results. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/12 "2005-05-06T21:25:00Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > I just tried this and it worked (I use Windows Media Player 10 as the default player for MP3 & WMA). > > I did get a warning about the file extension not matching the file format and how it might produce unexpected results. It may have played the file, but that’s because WMP 10 _can play_ wma files. Try opening them with a program that can only open mp3s and you’ll see that all you did was change the name. WMA and MP3 are completely different file formats. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/13 "2005-05-06T21:27:20Z")
I even tried the reverse: changed a wma to an mp3 and it worked as well. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/14 "2005-05-06T21:38:12Z")
> [@iamthewalrus(:3=](#): > > It may have played the file, but that’s because WMP 10 _can play_ wma files. Try opening them with a program that can only open mp3s and you’ll see that all you did was change the name. WMA and MP3 are completely different file formats. :smack::smack::smack::smack: I put the track on a CDRW and played it on a DVD player that can play MP3’s. The track title appeared on-screen, but when I hit play, nothing happened. My bad. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/15 "2005-05-06T23:23:51Z")
interesting, I used to use this method all the time with wma’s specificly BECAUSE I hated wmp, never had a problem with the files playing anywhere, either I was just lucky or something has changed. sorry for the bad info, carry on ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/16 "2005-05-06T23:41:01Z")
It may be the case that certain media players\* can still recognise and play a media file with an inappropriate extension, but MP3 and WMA files are encoded using different compression algorithms. \*I’m actually surprised that the MS player is tolerant in this way; I’d maybe sort of expect it of applications that had been developed as cross-platform, because file extensions don’t tend to matter on other popular OSes. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2005, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-make-my-walmart-wmas-portable/302535/17 "2005-05-07T12:09:55Z")
Total misinformation. WMAs are not MP3s. Like Mangetout said, WMP is smart enough to look inside the actual file and determine which type it really is despite the fake extension. But that doesn’t actually convert the file. The two formats are not the same.