New to i-Tunes

Question

As an ageing non-techno who is venturing slowly into the 21st Century, I require, please, some idiot-proof help and advice!
I have just downloaded iTunes and an unclear exactly what or what not I can do, despite the Tutorials. Ideally, I would like to download (simply and legally) complete albums and transfer them (via Media Player or Real Player . . . or?) to iTunes and on to an iPlayer (on order!)
I am sure this is easy stuff for you guys but any help would be really appreciated.
Many thanks.

Answer 1

You poor thing! iTunes is a whole new concept. First of all you will notice that iTunes has given you a new folder within your 'My Music' folder called 'iTunes' and you cannot change that. All your downloads will go into this new folder. You can see the contents of this new folder by clicking on 'Music' in iTunes. Then, you will notice that iTunes has decided you want all the tracks to go onto your ipod, itouch or iphone (iTunes only works with Apple hardware!)by ticking each track in a tiny box next to the track. If you don't want a track on your hardware, untick the box. Don't forget to let iTunes know that you only want 'ticked' tracks on your hardware. If you want to add music that you already have you have to move it all into the iTunes folder. Thats it! Then click on sync whilst not forgetting to check all the complicated settings in iTunes. iTunes will also download album artwork for your purchases and attempt to download it for anything you add to the iTunes folder. Each time you connect your hardware iTunes will sync your music and sometimes even delete it all! Oh, by the way, if you add music to the magic 'iTunes' folder you will have to manually tell iTunes it is there. Don't forget to backup your purchased music. iTunes will ask if you want to back it up but that only works if you choose to back it up to a dvd or cd. Use Windows Explorer and make a copy of the iTunes folder somewhere of your choice.