How to rip DVD and convert video/flash to iPod touch/classic/video/nano Video MP4 on Windows?

June 15th, 2010

The article includes two parts. Part 1: Rip DVD movie to iPod touch/classic/video/nano (Windows) Part 2: Convert AVI, WMV, MPEG, RM, RMVB, ASF, MOV, DivX, XviD, MPG to iPod touch/classic/video/nano MP4 or H264 format (Windows)

It is easy-to-use and the converting speed is fast! After testing, all formats to iPod touch/classic/video/nano conversion works well, the output audio and image quality is excellent! Let’s view the steps.

Part 1: How to How to rip DVD to iPod touch/classic/video/nano (Windows)

1. Download the latest version DVD to iPod Converter + iPod Movie/Video Converter Suite, and install it.

dvd to ipod video screenshot

2. Run the DVD to iPod Converter, load your DVD by clicking ‘Open DVD’ button or choosing ‘Open DVD’ from ‘File’ drop down menu. One or several titles appear in the list after loading DVD.

dvd to ipod video

3. As usual, the longest title is the main file of the movie. You can remove the title you don’t like to convert by unchecking the title. Set ‘Subtitle’, ‘Audio Languages’ to what you like. 4. To ‘Output Folder’, Enter the full pathname or choose the path where you want to save your video files by clicking the related button. 5. Click ‘Convert’ button to start the iPod DVD conversion. 6. Find the .mp4 file that DVD to iPod converter created and drag it into your iTunes library, or select ‘Add File to Library’ from the ‘File’ menu and select the encoded movies. Now you can watch it with iTunes or Quicktime Player on your PC.

dvd to ipod video

7. Load the MP4 files to iPod by clicking ‘File -> Update iPod’. Now, you can enjoy the movies on your fifth generation video iPod anywhere and anytime.

Part 2: How to convert iPod touch/classic/video/nano video, such as AVI to iPod, WMV to iPod, MPEG to iPod, RM to iPod, RMVB to iPod, ASF to iPod, MPG to iPod, DivX to iPod, XviD to iPod video (Windows)

1. Download the latest version DVD to iPod Converter + iPod Movie/Video Converter Suite, and install it. 2. Run iPod Video converter component. And load the video files you’d like to convert by clicking ‘Open file’ button.

video to ipod video

Click ‘Output’ and choose the pathname where you want to save your video files. Click ‘Convert’ to start converting video to iPod MP4 or H264 files.

Tips: Before converting, you can click ‘Advance -> Video settings’ to set ‘Video format’, ‘Resolution’, ‘Framerate’, ‘Output Quality’. If you’d like to convert video to H264 files, please set ‘Video format’ to ‘H.264 FQ Variable Bitrate’. ‘MPEG4(.mp4) FQ Variable Bitrate’ is the default value. Certainly, you can also set ‘Audio Bitrate’, ‘Channels’, ‘Sample Rate’ and ‘Volume’ in ‘Audio Settings’ page.

video to ipod vide

As usual, we set “Resolution” as “320×240″ (i.e. default settings), certainly you can also choose other video sizes you like.

3. After converting, you can open the output folder to check and play the iPod video files (.mp4 or .mov) using Quicktime Player 4. Transfer the iPod videos to iTunes by draging or clicking “File -> Add File to Library”. Now, you can enjoy them on iTunes. Then hit “File -> Update iPod” to sync to your iPod.

Troubleshootings (Windows) 1. Why occour a message: ‘MPEG2Dec: Error during decoder initialisation’ or ‘unable to read from E:VIDEO_TSvts_01_1.vob’ everytime I put any DVD in? Check that you select the correct DVD driver. If not, please select the correct DVD driver path.

2. Audio is out of sync with the video or no audio There are several posts which says audio is out of sync with the video or no audio at all when they used videora ipod converter, cucusoft dvd to ipod converter or pqdvd dvd to ipod video converter. It seems that there is no software can work well for ALL users and ALL DVDs. In fact, you might as well resolve the problem trying the following one by one. A. DVD to iPod Converter: Click “Setting -> Input settings”. (a) Check “Audio/Video Synchronisation”. (b) Set “Deinterlace filter” to “None”. (c) Set “Output frame rate” to other values. B: iPod Video Converter: Click “Advance”, change ‘framerate’ to 23.976 or 29.97 in ‘Video settings’. If it doesn’t work, might as well change a DVD movie to test.

Chase Telford, the writer of digital multimedia software, makes it easy to find what dvd or ipod related software are the best for you. Any suggestions to my writing please leave your precious words.

How Kids Can Create Stop Motion Animation With Windows 7

June 15th, 2010

My son likes to create stop motion animation with Lego and having used Windows Movie Maker on previous incarnations of Windows, including XP and Vista, we was surprised to find it lacking on a recent purchase of Windows 7. For unknown reasons Microsoft has decided to cull this incredibly practical program from the basic installation and made it an optional download. Perhaps they want more hits on their website?

To download the latest version of Windows Movie Maker, its recommended by Microsoft that you download Windows Live Suite. What you get is a slimmed down version of the old Movie Maker but for simple animations this is all you need (for serious users try Movie Maker version 2.6). Install, have a look around and then get ready to animate.

As I mentioned previously, my son likes to create stop motion Lego animation so that is the context in which I will explain how to create animation with this version of Movie Maker. After taking the images with your camera import them into Windows and save somewhere handy.

Then open Windows Movie Maker and select Home tab (should already be default selection) then choose Add Videos and Photos. By clicking on the first image for your animation and then pressing Shift and clicking on the last image for your animation you will be able to import all the images at once. Not only that but they will be put in the order you took them.

Then press play. Chances are your images will each play for about 5 seconds each. This is great for a slideshow of travel snaps but not so good for moving still image frames so they seem to move for animation.

Using the same Click/Shift-Click method mentioned above, now select all your images as they appear in the window beside the screen that plays the video. Now select the Edit tab and goto the Duration box. The drop down menu will give you a selection of duration for each frame, starting at one second. That’s way too long for us but fortunately you can specify lower amounts. I put in 0.10 as the duration.

Now you can add a title to the animation by selecting your first frame and using the Home tab’s Title and Caption options. Use the Visual Effects tab to fade into your first animation frame to get things moving smoothly and then do the same to the end of the animation.

Adding music is a breeze. Simply return to the Home tab, select Add Music and then select the MP3 of choice. Save your project often, especially if it’s a big file. Then to create your movie file, select the Publish options by clicking the icon in the top right corner of the screen. You can also choose to publish instantly to Youtube or save in various formats.

Creating simple stop motion animations with Windows 7 is easy and fast. With the new streamlined Windows Movie Maker kids can start their movie career with a few clicks.

Windows 7 News & Tips brings a solution for such problems

June 15th, 2010

Popularity of computer is increasing day by day. It has clinched a vital place in almost all fields of life. From software companies to even sofa selling firms, we can find computer. Computer makes billing and other accounting works easy and quick. In olden days computer was used only for accounting and calculation works.

Popularity of computer is increasing day by day. It has clinched a vital place in almost all fields of life. From software companies to even sofa selling firms, we can find computer. Computer makes billing and other accounting works easy and quick. In olden days computer was used only for accounting and calculation works. But developments in technology and change of time have made revolutionary improvements in the world. Working culture and work mode have changed a lot when compared to previous years. It is now being used for letter typing, message typing, brochure designing etc. Various versions of Windows are used for versatile work modes.

Windows 7 is a new version which includes all sophisticated and advanced features to make working on computer a pleasurable experience. But most of people are not having information about Windows 7 and they are still using older versions of Windows. Windows 7 News & Tips brings a solution for such problems. We are the professional people having wide knowledge in all aspects of Windows 7. We provide you that information to broaden your knowledge on Windows 7. If you are going to buy Windows 7 and are confusing with which version to select, select our website to get proven guidelines on Windows 7. These guidelines will help you to make perfect decision that brings lasting results.

Windows 7 News & Tips renders good tips and tweaks to improve and uphold the fast and security of your system. Read these proven tips to maintain the speed and accuracy of computer. Our professionals are work beyond office time to provide you unquestionable information and details on Widows 7. You can find latest and up to date information and news about Windows 7in our website. Our website also features beautiful, eye catching wall papers and Windows 7 themes. You can download the same to beautify your monitors. We provide good customer service for 24/7. You can ping us for any doubts on Windows 7 at any time. We have a Forum where people post and respond to the queries about Windows 7.

The forum has around 4000 active members who interact cordially to broaden the knowledge on Windows 7. Before posting your comments and responds, you have to register your name with Windows 7 News & Tips. If you wish to know more about us or Windows 7, never hesitate to ping our help desk. If u like to download cool Windows 7 Wallpapers, visit our web site.

Fastback Foilfast P21x Alternate Windows Installation Instructions

June 15th, 2010

Normally installing the Powis P21xFoilfast printer on a windows computer is quite easy. You simply plugthe printer into the computer and it will automatically detect it.However, in some cases windows will not automatically see if you aretrying to install your Powis Parker Fastback Foilfast printer on yourwindows box and it isn’t automatically detected, this article willprovide you with alternative windows installation instructions.

1.To access the printer installation software, insert the SoftwareInstallation CD in your CD drive and open the folder titled “Windows,”or download the software from the Powis website(). If you have any Fastback FoilFastsoftware loaded on your computer from a previous installation it isvery important that you remove it before you proceed. You can uninstallthe FoilFast software in your control panel under add or removeprograms (for windows XP).

2. Navigate to the folder where youhave your drivers (either on the CD or in the download that youobtained from the powis website). Double click on the file titled”Setup.exe”. This should cause the Printer Driver Installation screento appear.

3. Choose the language you prefer for installation. Click ‘Next.’ The End User License Agreement dialog box appears.

4. Click to check the box labeled “I accept the terms of the aboveLicense Agreement.” If you do not agree to the license terms, click’Exit.’ Otherwise, click ‘Next.’ The second Printer Installation dialogbox appears.

5. Choose the appropriate printer. Click ‘Next.’The Available Platforms dialog box appears. Make sure that theappropriate software platform is chosen (Windows 2000/XP/2003). Under”Do you want to share this printer?” click the button labeled ‘No.’

6. Click ‘Next.’ The third Printer Installation dialog box appears.

7. The software will find the port that it determines is the mostsuitable choice for you computer. If you want to switch ports, clickthe arrow to the right of the chosen port and other available portswill appear. If you are using a parallel printer cable you will morethan likely use the LPT1 port. This is a very important step. If youchoose the incorrect printer port your P21x will not work and you willneed to uninstall and reinstall the FoilFast software.

8. Under ‘Printer Name’ you can change the name of your printer as you wish.

9. If you wish to use the Foilfast printer as your default printer (notrecommended), check the button labeled ‘Yes.’ The default is ‘No.’

10. Click ‘Next.’ The “Ready to Start Copying” dialog box appears.

11. Click Finish. After the installation has finished, a dialogannouncing that the installation was successful should appear.

12. Click ‘Exit to Windows.’ Your printer is now ready to use. If, forany reason, your installation was not successful, remove all componentsof the Foilfast software from your computer and try again using adifferent Port.

After you have completed the installation youshould be able to print a test page using your foilfast printer. Ifyour test page prints properly then you will know that you printer isset up correctly. If your page doesn’t print, there is a good chancethat you have the wrong port selected and you will need to reinstallthe software.

About The Author:

If you are interested in more information about the Fastback Foilfast P21x or are looking for Fastback Binding Machines or Fastback Binding Strips you should visit MyBinding.com. They are the largest online dealer for Powis Parker Fastback products in the United States. In fact, they carry the entire line of Powis Parker Fastback binding products.

Ways to Make Computer Faster

June 15th, 2010

Ways to Make Computer Faster
Has your PC gone dead slow? Is your computer testing your patience? Then it’s time you did something about it and make it run faster! In this article, you will find some straightforward tips on how to make computer faster and speed up its functions.

There is a lot you can do besides hardware upgradation that will make your computer run faster. You don’t need to be a tech guru to understand how it’s done as you will discover, while going through the list of methods to make computer run faster.

How to Make Computer Run Faster?

My personal desktop computer had a problem of frequent slowdowns and hangups which I solved by researching and implementing some of the simple techniques expounded below. You need to understand the factors that affect the speed of computer operation. One of the prime factors is the working memory of the computer which is RAM and the other is data retrieval from hard disk. Freeing up RAM and accelerating data retrieval are two ways to make computer faster. Here are some of the things you can do, to make your computer faster.

Lighten Hard Drive
Lightening your hard disk by deleting old files and making more space available will help in making your computer faster. Especially, the hard drive volume on which your operating system is installed, needs to be cleaned of unwanted files. This will provide more space for the swap file, which is the space on a hard drive, used in addition to RAM as working memory. Delete files from recycle bin and also clear up the temporary internet files folder. Read more on how to clean computer hard drive.

Uninstall Unwanted Programs
One way of reducing the hard disk space used on the operating system installed volume, is to uninstall unwanted programs that take up space. Some of these programs run on start up and slow down the computer. Uninstalling them will definitely help in speeding up your computer.

Stop Unwanted Programs That Run at Start Up
There are some programs that immediately run on start up, which makes the computer slow down. To make computer faster and reduce start up time, stop the unwanted programs from automatically running at start up.

Remove Adware, Malware & Viruses
Many viruses, worms, adware program and malwares slow down your computer. If you haven’t already, install a licensed antivirus software and scan the hard drive to remove all kinds of malicious software. This may make computer faster as its resources used up by the malicious programs will be freed. Read more on adware protection.

Go For File Compression
There is a facility to compress old files in most operating systems including Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Compressing old files frees up space on the hard drive, which is always good for computer performance. Read more on file compression programs.

Defragment Hard Drive
Data gets stored on a hard drive in fragmented form, which makes the data retrieval from hard drive to go slower and consequently slows down computer operation. Defragmentation of the hard drive volumes, rearranges the data files in such a manner, that retrieving data from it becomes considerably easy and fast. So, defragmenting hard drive is a sure fire way to make computer faster. Read more on how to defrag a computer.

Clean Windows Registry
If you are using a Windows operating system, then cleaning up the Windows registry will help in improving computer performance. Many free-to-download registry cleaners are available, which you can install to run the registry clean up. You will definitely see an improvement in performance speed. Read more on how to clean computer registry.

Switch Off Fancy Visual Desktop Effects
Some operating systems like Windows Vista have fancy desktop effects, which improves the visual aesthetic appeal, but also uses up RAM. Switch to a classic view for the desktop to retrieve an extra slice of RAM for your computer.

Increase Page Size
When RAM is fully used up and computer falls short of working memory, it uses up hard disk space for operation as virtual memory. The amount of space made available on the hard disk is decided by the page file size. Increasing the page file size allotment can help in making your computer run faster. You can allot space for page file storage from any of the drive volumes that have free space available.

Use USB Drive To Speed Up Computer
Many operating systems like Windows Vista and Windows 7 have a facility that lets you boost the speed of your computer using a USB flash drive, as a RAM boosting hardware device. It helps to boost the speed and make computer faster in operation and is especially useful if you go for intensive gaming.

Reinstall Operating System
An operating system that has been in use for three or four years continuously, can get riddled with problems. Going for a hard drive formatting and complete reinstallation can help you get rid of inherent operating system problems, that may be slowing down your computer. Read more on computer hard drive formatting tips.

Increase RAM
Increasing physical RAM may help to make your computer faster, as it has more working memory to spare for operation. Increasing RAM will surely speed up the computer operation. Read more on how to increase RAM.

Install New Hard Drive
Retrieval of data from old hard drives becomes increasingly slower with time. A hard drive replacement will make your computer run faster.

Read more on:

  • 7 Easy Ways to Speed Up Windows XP
  • How to Make Your Computer Faster
  • How to Make a Computer Run Faster

Hope the suggestions to make computer faster are found useful. With some of these simple tweaking tricks, you can make your computer faster and more responsive when you are multitasking. To make your computer run faster, you need to marshal the limited computer resources that you have, to extract optimum performance!

Meet Windows 7: Your PC, simplified

June 15th, 2010

If you are the one searching for good information on Windows 7, visit Windows 7 News & Tips. We are the top rated people rendering proven tips and tweaks and detailed information on Windows 7. Our website provides you the best buying guidelines for your windows 7 purchase.

Majority of people are not having adequate information on Windows 7. They are just installing Windows 7 as per their goals and purposes. If they get good information on new versions of Windows 7, they could effectively maintain their windows. Getting suitable Windows 7 version for your PC fastens and secures your system.

You can find thousands of service providers offering information on Windows 7, but if you are looking for authenticity and competence, Windows 7 News & Tips are here to help you. Being the leading service provider in the field, we strive to offer unquestionable information and details. Our professionals bear in-depth knowledge and sufficient experience in all aspects of Windows 7. Take a glance to our Windows 7 buying guidelines. You will feel amaze and wonder!! We write reviews on each version after examining the pros and cons of all versions in detail. Though there are several versions has launched in Windows 7, we mostly prefer Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Home Premium and Windows 7 Professional.

These 3 versions are excellent and outstanding as they include all those features and characteristics that Windows 7 has to offer. We provide well established tips and tweaks for you to make your PC more secure and faster than before. You can find magnificent, eye catching wall papers, desk top themes from our website. If you wish to embellish your desk top with our wall papers, download it from our site. We provide all the latest news and information on Windows 7 which make our users up to date and well informed. We run a Windows 7 Forum which let registered users to post and respond on the comments made on Windows 7. Our Forum holds around 4000 users round the globe.

If you wish to know more information on Windows 7 or any other software field of computer, never hesitate to interact with us. Our help desk is active for 24/7. You won’t need to wait for long period to get your doubts clarified. Our professionals will clarify your doubts at a rabbit speed. Take our help to tweak your windows 7 version. For more about Windows 7 Ultimate, Windows 7 Professional , visit our web site.

Boost Your Computer’s Performance with Windows 7 Virus Scanner

June 15th, 2010

Nowadays, computer viruses are getting more and more sophisticated and can enter your computer even if it is equipped with antivirus or antispyware software in a deceitful manner. So you should be very much conscious about the security of your computer data. These viruses can ruin your computer’s memory as a consequence of which, you may face serious issues with your operating system and application software. You can even lose your entire data stored over the hard disk.

Windows 7 has been shipped with immense features, which can take care of your security concerns by scanning and diagnosing the viruses on real time. So there is no need to depend on antivirus software, which offer only limited protection and that’s too after shedding a considerable amount of money.

But you need to be careful about their status on regular basis.

Features
Inbuilt features of Windows 7 like Windows Firewall and Windows Defender play an important role to protect your computer from viruses and other malicious threats. They must be kept well configured and enabled at every moment when you are online. These are equipped with anti-spammer, effective scan engine, Guard, Quarantine, and Scheduler features, so that you can get holistic protection from all offline and online threats. They can scan and remove computer virus instantly from your computer.

Usability
With the above Windows 7 virus scanning tools, you can get good protection from viruses and other malicious software, which harms your privacy and computer’s performance in many ways. These tools monitor your computer on real-time basis, so that you can keep your memory and Windows registry in a sound condition, which will avoid probability of hardware and software conflicts and minimize chances of blue screen error, hard disk crash and sluggish performance.

Limitation
It has been noticed that Windows Firewall delivers only one-way protection. It can check either the incoming or the outgoing traffic at a time. Windows firewall often becomes problematic, when you try to download or install some application software on your computer.

Recommendation
Keep your Windows Defender and Windows Firewall in a well configured state and also ensure they are enabled. To combat with severe infection from computer viruses, you can deploy online scanner tools available on trusted website. For quick resolution, you can call your tech support provider, which can assist in real-time.

Above and all, we can say that Windows 7 is an absolute operating system, which can deliver complete security to your computer in absence of any antivirus software. These tools are easy to configure without much computer knowledge.

windows 7 virus scan
Get help from iYogi technicians to scan viruses from your windows 7 operating system call now at: +877 466 7165

WinToFlash solutions to install windows from usb flash drive

June 15th, 2010

Those who’ve read the postings I Install Windows Xp From Flash disk Solution Install Windows without a CD-Rom, this way we can install windows through the flash so it is a solution that is suitable for you who want to install windows if you do not have a CD-Rom. In this way we need some files USB_PREP8 and PEtoUSB and through some step that feel too long.

Now there is another solution to this exact same, we can make a flash disk to install windows in a computer. What I mean is WinToFlash, a program the size of about 6MB, with WinToFlash we can move all the contents of the windows Installer cd and make the USB DRIVER bootable and ready to be used to install the windows os. Simply by downloading WinToFlash, then we’ll stay running a few steps it will get a bootable Flashdisk is more practical . Here are steps to install windows using WinToFlash Required:

– Flash (min, a 1GB) – A computer with a cd / dvd room to create a bootable pen drive – computer without cd-rom (the computer that will be install windows)

1. Download WinToFlash

2. Extract the downloaded file, then find WinToFlash.exe

3. Click the windows setup wizard transfers

4. we have next to menu wizard mode, then press next.

5. At this step select the drive (cd rom) where cd installer

windows are while for a usb drive, select the drive from the USB drive you.

6. After selecting the 2 drivers above, then click NEXT

7. Then we will see a popup menu of “I Accepted the terms of

the license agreement” just hit Continue

8. then we will be asked to format the flash you message: Warning! Formatting will of erase ALL DATA on the target disk. To format press OK, press Cancel to quit

9. when we click OK in the format will flash and then windows installer file transfer process to run flash disk

10. Furthermore, waiting until FINISH, after you already have a USB drive bootable and ready to install on any computer or laptop without cd-rom The following steps will install when using this bootable flash disk

1. Input flash on a computer that will be installed 2. computer boot from flashdisk if you do not know how to boot from the flash, when you turn on the computer / notebook very first press F2 and go into the bios menu. looking for a boot menu, then choose flashdisk/usb drive as the main boot. then press F10 to Save and Exit after that restart your pc / notebook you now you have to boot from the flash disk and select 1st, the text mode setup (Boot from flash again after finished) after the first restart select 2nd, the GUI mode setup, continue setup + 1st start of Windows

Where To Download Music Online For A Dime?

June 15th, 2010

Music enthusiasts would love to know where to download music online for pennies. Very often, we would really like to get a particular song but simply do not want to buy the whole CD or download the entire album. Some of us may even feel that the online music sites are simply charging too much for us to download music online. If you can identify with one of these scenarios, then this article would open your eyes to a whole new way to download music online and not only that, but do so cheaply.

Downloading a song for 99 cents just won’t go well with the current consumers of MP3. As such, there are now a couple of established music download sites that have started to accept membership. For a monthly fee, you can download music online to your heart’s content. From rock to contemporary classics, pop, K-pop, J-pop and all, you can freely download all these music MP3s as often as you want and as many as you like. There are no limits and it is totally legal to do so. These music stores have cut deals with local music labels to release their brand of music online. In exchange for that, these music record companies get a cut from the profits for each download.

Knowing that there are many music download sites available that allow you to download music online is the first step. But there are many choices and you need to know more in order to be able to find one that you are comfortable to download music online from. Do take note that the music file formats are important as you need to ensure their compatibility with your digital player. Go with the most commonly used ones like Windows Media (WMA) and Advanced Acoustic Coding (AAC) and it should be quite safe. Moreover, the quality of such files is better.

Another important factor to consider is the selection of music. Many sites nowadays provide more than one million music MP3 files. You may be impressed but be sure to still compare the different sites to download music online. There are some that offer 2 million, while others offer much more. Obviously you want to buy the membership for the one with the most number of music downloads. It would be great if the membership music download site allows you to directly download music without installing any client software.

Make sure that you check if the online music site has the music genre that you are looking for before you start to download music online from that particular site. It would really be disappointing if you cannot find what you want. To play safe, look through the list of music genre carefully on each site. That would be useful. Some music genre which can be more unique might also be available for you to download online. Before you download music online, also read the website terms and conditions. See if they offer 24/7 customer service support. This ensures that you can reach them at any time if you have questions.

Eyeing a good place to download music online? Check out my music blog to compare the top music download services online today.

Microsoft Beats Apple to the Music

June 15th, 2010

Microsoft has stolen a march on rival Apple by signing a deal with a digital music company backed by singer Peter Gabriel to launch the first internet download service in Europe to sell individual tracks.

The new venture will be accessed through Microsoft’s Windows Media Player software and will allow users to download songs from a choice of more than 200,000 by major artists.

Apple’s iTunes service, which sold more than 6.5m tracks in three months since launching in the US, has been heralded as a success because it allows users to download tracks at a set price and then copy them to CDs or portable players.

OD2, Mr Gabriel’s company, said single tracks would be available from about 75p each while albums would cost £7.99, considerably cheaper than their instore counterparts.

“For the first time, millions of music fans across Europe will be able to buy individual tracks from all five major labels,” said Jonathan Usher, the director of Windows Media Division.

The five record groups, all of which have signed deals with OD2, have also promised to supply exclusive singles to the service before they are available in the shops.

They hope this will encourage fans to pay for the track rather than downloading it illegally from file sharing sites. A successful launch could assuage industry fears that fans are becoming bored with tracks before they hit the shelves.

There are also hopes that downloading could help revive flagging singles sales. Tracks bought through the service are expected to be eligible for the charts from later this year.

Media Player will link to either Microsoft’s own MSN service or one operated by the Italian internet company Tiscali.

Charles Grimsdale, chief executive of OD2, said he expected to have at least 300,000 tracks available through the service within a matter of weeks.

With the might of Microsoft behind the launch, record companies are hoping that the service will turn the tide against illegal downloads.

“This is a significant step, the Windows Media Player is the dominant player in Europe and will significantly widen the potential customer base,” Mr Grimsdale said.