Q I recently purchased a motorcycle with an MP3 player, and I've been trying unsuccessfully to transfer my music to the player. I used a flash memory device to copy music from my PC's Windows Media Player software, but the MP3 player couldn't read it. I took my bike to the shop and was told the music needed to be in the MP3 file format. But the songs on my computer are a mixture of music copied from CDs and downloads from the Internet. How do I get the music into MP3 format?

JAN BRUNNER, MINNEAPOLIS

A Windows Media Player most likely is your problem. It uses the Windows Media Audio format, or WMA, which is different from MP3, the universal song format that works on virtually any music player. If you convert your WMA music to the MP3 format, it should work on your motorcycle's MP3 player.

When you ripped songs from CDs, the default Windows Media Player setting probably was to copy them as WMA files. You can fix that by re-ripping your CDs as MP3 files. In Windows Media Player, go to "Organize" or "Library" (depending on which version of the program you have), then "Options." Under "Rip Music," then "Rip Settings," use the drop-down window under "Format" to choose MP3.

Songs you've bought online pose other problems, because they could be in MP3, WMA or other formats, and they may or may not be copy-protected. You can solve both the format and the copy-protection problems by burning your music files to a CD in standard CD player format, then ripping the disk back to Windows Media Player as MP3 files.

Alternatively, you can download a program that will do the WMA to MP3 file conversion for you. Go to www.download.com and search for "WMA convert to MP3" to find several conversion programs, some free.

Q My wife and I are looking to upgrade our desktop PC so we can edit movies of children. We don't think our current desktop, purchased in 2001, will be adequate. Do you have any suggestions for buying a desktop PC to store and edit movie and photo files for making DVDs? Do we need to buy extra memory?

JOHN MASLOW, SAVAGE

A If you want to edit DVD movies, you should buy a PC with a fast processor and better-than-average graphics. Also look for one with at least 4 gigabytes of random access memory, or RAM, and maybe as much as 8 gigabytes.

You can typically find these PCs for under $1,000. Go to www.cnet.com, search for "PC for video editing" and click "Desktops" on the left.

E-mail tech questions to steve.j.alexander@ gmail.com or write Tech Q&A, 425 Portland Av. S., Minneapolis, MN 55488-0002. Include name, city and phone number.