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Don't just rip MP3 files from CDs: Use the free MusicMatch Jukebox to capture analog input from a stereo system component, like a cassette or record player. Just hook up the stereo component's audio-out jacks to your sound card's line-in connector, and you're halfway there.

To record sound files from "old media," open MusicMatch Jukebox, and choose Options, Recorder, Source, Line In. MusicMatch Jukebox will open the Recorder module window. Before beginning a recording, click the "Edit track name" title in the Recorder window and assign a name to the track you're about to capture. (If you don't know what it will be yet, just call it "Track 1"--you can rename it later.)

Next, you'll want to fine-tune your recording options. Choose Options, Recorder, Quality, MP3 (128 kbps) if you want to record to an MP3 file, or Options, Recorder, Quality, Windows Media (128 kbps) if you want something playable on Windows Media Player. (Both formats provide "CD quality" audio reproduction.)

Now, you're all ready to go. Put one finger on the play button for your cassette player, and the other on the mouse. Click the right-pointing triangle button in the Recorder module window to begin recording, then push the play button on your stereo component (or drop the needle on the record track). When the track is finished, click the button with a white square on it (the unlabeled Stop Recording button) in the Recorder module window.