Older itunes files won't play on newer computer (Windows XP)

About a year and a half ago, I uploaded my CD collection into my itunes library on a Windows 2000 equipped laptop and then backed up the library onto CDs. Since then, many of the original CDs are gone and the laptop has crashed. But at least I have the backed up music saved on CDs, right? Fast forward to now; I downloaded the latest version of itunes onto my PC and try to play these backup CDs, but I am prompted (with exclamation points) to insert the original file.
What can I do to play my old music? Is there an earlier version of itunes that will recognize these older files?

Are you sure you're selecting a song that was copied to your computer (and not one from a previous attempt)? Just a thought.
If it's still not working, you'll need to copy the files to your hard drive manually.
Open My Music, or whichever directory you want the files to be in.
Then open the CD in a different window.
Click and drag the files/folders the My Music window.
Go into iTunes and add the folders as described in the last post. You'll also probably want to uncheck "Copy files to iTunes Music folder when adding to library" so the files don't get duplicated and take up more space on your hard drive.

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