Importing a CD with iTunes

iTunes makes it really easy to take any CDs that you already have and put them into your iTunes library.  Just follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes.
2. Place the CD into your optical drive (the one that a CD/DVD fits into).
3. If iTunes doesn’t automatically change to show all the songs on the CD, click on the Library Selector in the top left of the window (it most likely says Music right now) and select the title of the CD.                             
4. Now click the Import CD button that is toward the top right of the window.
5. Click OK on the Import Setting window that will pop up.
6. Now iTunes will begin importing your CD.  You can watch its progress in the current window you are in or you can go do something else in iTunes and watch the progress in the top window.
7. Once it is done importing the CD you can take the CD out of the optical drive.

Congratulations! You now imported a CD into your iTunes Library.  You can do what ever you want with this music now: put it into a playlist, burn it to a CD, sync it to your iPod, etc…

Redeeming iTunes Gift Cards

iTunes gift cards are a common gift in today’s society.  They allow you to buy anything in the iTunes store from music to videos to apps.  Before you can use the gift card you first have to redeem it.  Redeeming a gift card places the dollar amount of the gift card as credit in your iTunes account.  Redeeming a gift card is easy, just follow these steps:

1. Open iTunes
2. Go to the iTunes Store by clicking on the button labeled “iTunes Store” in the top right of the window.
3. Toward the bottom right of the window is a section called “Quick Links”.  Click on the “Redeem” link in that section.
4. If you aren’t already logged in with your AppleID it will ask you to log in.
5. Now enter the code that can be found on the back of your gift card and click the Redeem button.

The amount of the gift card should now be added to amount of money that can be seen next to your AppleID username toward the top of the window.  Now you no longer need the physical gift card because it is associated with your account.  You can use this money from any of your devices (Computer, Phone, Tablet) as long as you are signed in with your AppleID.

How to Open iTunes and Check for Updates

Before we start using iTunes, we first want to make sure that we can open it and that we are using the most current version.  Luckily it very easy to do both.  First check if iTunes has been placed on the Desktop or if it is has been pinned to the taskbar (the strip of icons to the right of the start button).  Both options are shown below:

You can open iTunes by either clicking on the icon in the taskbar or by double clicking the icon on the Desktop.

If it can’t be found on the Desktop or in the taskbar, then you can search for it in the start menu.  To do this start by clicking on the start button, it can be found on the very bottom left hand corned of the Desktop.  Once you click on it you should be see something like this.

Once the start menu is open, type “itunes” into the search bar that is labeled “Search programs and files”.  Once you do this the list of programs will be replaced with search results.  iTunes should be on the very top because it exactly matches what you searched.  All you have to do is click on it to open it.

Once iTunes opens it will usually remind you if there is an update that you should download.  But just in case it doesn’t remind you here are a few simple steps on how to check if you are using the latest version of iTunes.

1. Press the alt key, this will make a list of menus appear toward the top of the window.
2. Click on the Help menu
3. Select Check for Updates

iTunes will now check for any updates.  If it is already up-to-date, a window will pop up saying that the current version of iTunes is the current version.  If there is an update available, it will ask you to download and install the update.  Now that we have the latest version of iTunes up and running.  We can start to use it and all of its features.