I have several mp3 audio files I ripped from CDs where my player does not recognize the Album or Artist. I have the files on my hard drive, when I copy to my player, it puts them into an "Unknown" folder. Since there are several CDs it treats this way, I wind up with one Unknown Folder with lots of songs. It did not used to act this way, I have used the same files before without this problem.

You maybe be able to rip (convert then to MP3 format) several tracks at a time and then copy them to your MP3 player.
MP3 players can only play music files in mp3 file format. You can download mp3 music files from the Internet to your computer and then copy them to your MP3 player using the USB cable. For your CD collection, you need to convert your CDs to mp3 music files onto your computer or download them from the Internet and then copy them to your MP3 player after you have connected the USB cable to the MP3 player and the computer.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player will create a MP3 music file for each music track. Click on this link for instruction on converting music files to mp3 file format :- http://www.fixya.com/support/r5798418-creating_transferring_mp3_music_files

MP3 players can only play music files in mp3 file format.1st - You need to convert your CDs to mp3 music filesonto your computer or download them from the Internet and then copy them toyour MP3 player.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player willcreate a MP3 music file for each music track.
There are also Freeware CD RIP programs on the Internet that add the musictitle and album title to the mp3 file automatically.
OR
Download mp3 music files from the Internet to your computer, some sites willcost money to download these music files.
2nd - connect your MP3 player to your computer using the supplied USB cable.The computer will see this player as an external storage device, Just copy theMP3 music files from the computer's hard disk to the MP3 player.I suggest you create a album/title folder for each CD soyou can place the mp3 music files by that artist into that folder. Then copythese folders to your MP3 player and you will be able to select and play yourMP3 music by selecting the album you wish to play.
NOTE - When the USB cable is connected to the computer, it will also charge theMP3 player's battery.Click on this link for instruction on converting musicfiles to mp3 file format :- http://www.fixya.com/support/r5798418-creating_transferring_mp3_music_files

MP3 players can only play music files in mp3 file format.1st - You need to convert your CDs to mp3 music filesonto your computer or download them from the Internet and then copy them toyour MP3 player.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player willcreate a MP3 music file for each music track.
There are also Freeware CD RIP programs on the Internet that add the musictitle and album title to the mp3 file automatically.
OR
Download mp3 music files from the Internet to your computer, some sites willcost money to download these music files.
2nd - connect your MP3 player to your computer using the supplied USB cable.The computer will see this player as an external storage device, Just copy theMP3 music files from the computer's hard disk to the MP3 player.I suggest you create a album/title folder for each CD soyou can place the mp3 music files by that artist into that folder. Then copythese folders to your MP3 player and you will be able to select and play yourMP3 music by selecting the album you wish to play.
NOTE - When the USB cable is connected to the computer, it will also charge theMP3 player's battery.Click on this link for instruction on converting musicfiles to mp3 file format :- http://www.fixya.com/support/r5798418-creating_transferring_mp3_music_files

MP3 players can only play music files in mp3 file format.1st - You need to convert your CDs to mp3 music filesonto your computer or download them from the Internet and then copy them toyour MP3 player.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player willcreate a MP3 music file for each music track.
There are also Freeware CD RIP programs on the Internet that add the musictitle and album title to the mp3 file automatically.
OR
Download mp3 music files from the Internet to your computer, some sites willcost money to download these music files.
2nd - connect your MP3 player to your computer using the supplied USB cable.The computer will see this player as an external storage device, Just copy theMP3 music files from the computer's hard disk to the MP3 player.I suggest you create a album/title folder for each CD soyou can place the mp3 music files by that artist into that folder. Then copythese folders to your MP3 player and you will be able to select and play yourMP3 music by selecting the album you wish to play.
NOTE - When the USB cable is connected to the computer, it will also charge theMP3 player's battery.Click on this link for instruction on converting musicfiles to mp3 file format :- http://www.fixya.com/support/r5798418-creating_transferring_mp3_music_files

You can't copy Audio CD's to a hard drive. The .cda format is meant for only CD's. You have to rip them to some other format for a hard drive to recognize (such as .wma or .mp3).

How to rip an Audio CD using Windows Media Player

QUICK RIP
You can do a quick rip if the "AutoPlay" menu comes out when you insert a disk in your computer's DVD/CD drive.

One of the options under AutoPlay is to "Rip Music From CD (using Windows Media Player)" which will automatically launch Windows Media Player and the Rip menu. Make sure you uncheck the "Always do this for Audio CDs" box so your computer doesn't automatically launch the Rip menu every time you insert a CD (i.e. in case you just want to listen to a CD next time).

Start the ripping process by clicking on the "Start Rip" button (e.g. in Windows Media Player 11, for example, it's on the lower right once you're in the Rip menu). You'll also have an option to use your Internet connection and have Windows Media Player automatically find details about the CD you're using so you don't have to fill out album and song details yourself (for this tutorial, let's assume that you're not connected to the Internet, which means you'll end up with an unknown album with unknown songs). You'll know the ripping process is done once all the songs show "Ripped to library" under "Rip status."

By default, Windows Media Player will rip your tunes in WMA format and save it in your "Music" folder. You can access the folder by clicking on the Windows logo at the bottom left of your computer's screen. For Windows XP, for example, it'll be the "Start" button. For Windows Vista or Windows 7, it's the circular icon with the Windows four-panel graphic that looks like a waving flag.
Clicking the "Start" button in Windows XP will bring up a menu box with "My Music" as one of the options. For Vista, clicking on the Windows button will bring up a menu with "Music" as one of your options. Anyway, clicking on either of those choices will open your music folder. Look under Unknown Artist and you should be able to find the Unknown Album you just ripped. Once you find the songs, you can rename them one by one.
To do a normal rip, let's go to the next step.


NORMAL RIP
For more options, like changing your ripped music's format to MP3 or changing the folder where you save your music, you can do a normal rip.

Start by launching Windows Media Player yourself via the "Programs" option by clicking on either the "Start Menu" tab in Windows XP or the Windows logo in Vista or Windows 7 (both at the lower left of your screen). Insert your music CD. (To simplify things, just cancel and close down the "Autoplay" menu in case it shows up.)

Once you're in the Rip menu, click on the Rip tab to bring up a list of options. "Format" lets you pick between Windows Media Audio formats, WAV, and the more popular MP3 format. The WMA and WAV both have "lossless" format options, which means the music will be ripped with no loss in quality. The MP3 format, meanwhile, offers wider compatibility with portable music players and smaller file sizes but sacrifices a certain amount of quality depending on the bit rate of your file. This brings us to the "Bit Rate" button, which basically lets you pick the quality of the rip. The default for bit rate is 128 Kbps. Note that the higher the bit rate you pick, the better the quality you'll get, but you'll also get a larger file size.

========this worked for me and should work for you too, please let me know if it helps========

MP3 players can only play music files in mp3 file format. You need to convert your CDs to mp3 music files onto yourcomputer or download them from the Internet and then copy them to your MP3player.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player willcreate a MP3 music file for each music track.
Click on this link for instruction on converting music files to mp3 file format:-
http://www.fixya.com/support/r5798418-creating_transferring_mp3_music_files

MP3 players need the music files converted to mp3 file format before copying to your MP3 player.
1st - You need to convert your CDs to MP3 musicfiles.
You can do this using Windows Media player and Rip the CDs - Media Player willcreate a MP3 music file for each music track.
There are also Freeware CD RIP programs on the Internet that add the musictitle and album title to the mp3 file automatically.
OR
Download MP3 music files from the Internet to your computer, some sites willcost money to download these music files.
2nd - connect your MP3 player to your computer using the supplied USB cable.The computer will see this player as an external storage device, Just copy theMP3 music files from the computer's hard disk to the MP3 player. I suggest you create a album/title folder for eachCD so you can place the MP3 music files by that artist into that folder. Thencopy these folders to your MP3 player and you will be able to select and playyour MP3 music by selecting the album you wish to play.
NOTE - When the USB cable is connected to the computer, it will also charge theMP3 player's battery.

If you're using MSC mode (moving files via explorer), I believe the player ignores the directory structure for the most part, and uses the MP3 tags. I've had very good success using Media Monkey (which is freeware) to group the songs, and then transferring from there, in MTP mode.

Music CDs that are stamped by the factory have a format that Windows does not normally recognize, except thru Media player, or other aware programs. That music format is CDA. You need a CD ripper program to convert the CDA file to something Windows does recognize, like MP3 or WAV, then copy the files to your USB drive. Programs that rip CD music to files are UltraISO, Media Player 10, Nero, etc.. Here's one link to using Media Player to rip your CDs. http://portables.about.com/od/mp3players/ht/howtoripCDWMP10.htm This should get you started. ZT3000 Beta tester of "0"s and "1's"