Importing Copy Protected CDs into iTunes

[Phuz01]

Over the weekend, I got several CDs on sale. One of them was a Sony/Columbia/Legacy CD, and I didn't notice it carried a small message "Content enhanced and protected."

When I put the CD in my drive, it doesn't show up in iTunes. In fact, it asked to install a stand-alone player on my computer. But if you do that, all sorts of security warnings pop up. So I installed the patches as directed, but I was still unable to view the CD in iTunes.

After installing, I noticed my antivirus software was deactivated. So I removed all the software and rolled back my system.

Does anybody know a way around this copy protection software that won't put my system at risk? I just want to import the CD tracks into iTunes.

 

[Eidorian]

Under what operating sytstem...

 

[Phuz01]

Windows XP.

Yeah, I know.

 

[Eidorian]

Windows XP.

Yeah, I know.

You're going to run into a mess there since AutoPlay/Run is turned on by default and there's a chance they're altering how Windows can mount the disc itself.

IMHO I wouldn't buy a CD that doesn't comply with Red Book.

 

[Phuz01]

Yeah, I might not have been so quick to buy had it not been on sale for $5.99. Looks like I might just have to bite the bullet and see if it's available on the iTunes store. Good money after bad.

 

[Seanasaur]

I had this dilemma when Switchfoot's Nothing Is Sound came out in 2005. I finally decided on ripping it the old school way using a CD player, a 3.5 mm male to male headphone cable, and an audio program called GoldWave.

 

[ftaok]

Yeah, I might not have been so quick to buy had it not been on sale for $5.99. Looks like I might just have to bite the bullet and see if it's available on the iTunes store. Good money after bad.

If you have a friend with a Mac, chances are that he/she would be able to rip it ... as long as it mounts.

 

[Phuz01]

I have access to a Mac at the office. Will try that tomorrow. If it doesn't work, does anybody else have suggestions?

I figured somebody here might have encountered this problem and been crafty enough to come up with a work-around.

 

[Phil A.]

Over the weekend, I got several CDs on sale. One of them was a Sony/Columbia/Legacy CD, and I didn't notice it carried a small message "Content enhanced and protected."

When I put the CD in my drive, it doesn't show up in iTunes. In fact, it asked to install a stand-alone player on my computer. But if you do that, all sorts of security warnings pop up. So I installed the patches as directed, but I was still unable to view the CD in iTunes.

After installing, I noticed my antivirus software was deactivated. So I removed all the software and rolled back my system.

Does anybody know a way around this copy protection software that won't put my system at risk? I just want to import the CD tracks into iTunes.

What was the CD? It could have contained the infamous Sony "rootkit"

 

[Phuz01]

Yes, Phil. You hit the nail on the head. It's one of THOSE CDs.

I'm looking for a way to break through the idiotic copy protection. The downloads Sony offered as a work-around didn't work, and they disabled my antivirus software. So I uninstalled all the Sony software and rolled back my system.

So now I'm sitting with this crap CD and no way to get the music from it into iTunes.

 

[Phuz01]

Putting the CD in a Mac worked like a charm. Yet another reason Mac is superior to Windoze.

I posted this on the Apple support site, and they removed it and sent me a warning about requesting advice to perform illegal activities. Yeah, I wanted to put the music from a CD that I purchased into my iTunes library. Lock me up now!

 

[cwerdna]

a little late but...

Yes, Phil. You hit the nail on the head. It's one of THOSE CDs.

I'm looking for a way to break through the idiotic copy protection. The downloads Sony offered as a work-around didn't work, and they disabled my antivirus software. So I uninstalled all the Sony software and rolled back my system.

I'm a little late but you might be able to get a replacement CD w/o the rootkit software. See http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/.