If you have iTunes software installed on your computer, upon inserting the CD with your audio files on it, into your computer, all audio files will automatically upload onto your hard drive. However, due to certain restrictions, known as DRM (digital restrictions management), should you download any audio book directly from a site on the Internet, there is a slightly different process involved.



Passwords are required in order to first use digital audio files under DRM, after which they will have to be opened and a short process to ascertain legality completed for you to copy them.

Burn your audio files from the computer's hard disk onto a blank CD, then, without ejecting it, open iTunes. Transfer the contents of your CD by clicking on "Import CD" which can be found by accessing "Devices", then "Audio CD" (situated to the left of the monitor).

Although the names of some of your audio files appear when transferred, many do not in which case place the cursor on the file e.g. Track 1, right click, and choose "Get Info". This will provide you with enough information to rename the track with a more easily recognisable name.

After you have renamed each audio file, start a fresh "Playlist" for them and drag and drop the ones you want into it. This will make it easier to access them when using an iPod.

If your iPod is set to Automatic Synchronisation, upon connecting it to your computer, all audio files, complete with Playlist and titles will routinely be copied onto it. If your iPod is set to Manual, on the other hand, you will have to select those audio files you wish to transfer and then select "Synchronise" in order to transfer them across. This Manual method is advantageous in the sense that you might not wish to transfer all the files together at that time, so can choose the ones you want and only transfer those.

Zipping large audio files is a good way to save space and can be transferred effortlessly to a portable hard drive for storage or as a backup. In this way, they do not slow down your laptop and can be easily accessed by unzipping them and then downloading them to another location. Alternatively, you can hear them straight from your computer's hard drive.

Similarly, as books take up space in your home on shelves, audio books take up space on your computer hard drive. Therefore it's advisable to set up a special storage device for them.

Naturally the greatest advantage of audio files over actual books made from paper is that you can take your entire collection with you on a portable disk drive ' wherever you go to enjoy whenever you want. And now that you've learned how to copy your files to an iPod, you have the freedom to do exactly that!