How to download music to a USB flash drive so that later it can be read in the car
In our today's article we will talk about memory cards, car radios and their compatibility. Specifically, we will tell you how to download music to a USB flash drive, so that later it can be read in the car. And as you will see for yourself now, there is nothing complicated here.
A little about compatibility
In order for the music to be read in the car radio, we need to use the MP3 format. There is a small chance that other types of files will be detected and played, however, this happens quite rarely.
The second point is the type of file system of our drive. The default names are FAT32. Yes, some advanced car radios support NTFS, however, this also happens quite rarely.
We will take into account both of these points in our further step-by-step instructions. We will select the desired file type, convert if necessary, and finally prepare the flash drive so that it is recognized in any radio.
Flash drive selection
As for the USB drive, there is practically no difference. The only thing that interests us is, of course, reliability. Carrying a flash drive with us, we can get caught in the rain, drop it, or accidentally press it. In all these cases, the device must remain alive. We recommend choosing a drive with a capacity of 16 to 64 GB. This should be enough for all occasions. For example, if we take as a basis the weight of one file of 10 MB, then for 16 GB we will get almost 1500 tracks, which is quite enough. In this case, the drive must be in a metal case, protected from moisture and dust, as well as drops.
Expert opinion
Daria Stupnikova
Specialist in WEB-programming and computer systems. PHP/HTML/CSS editor for os-helper.ru site .
Ask Daria There is no point in overpaying for 256 or 512 GB. You can always easily plug the drive into your computer and add new music.
Formatting the drive
Now let's take care of the point that was touched on a little earlier. This is the correct file system. In order to get it, do the following steps:
- If there is important data on the flash drive, save it elsewhere, as it will be deleted during formatting. Go to Windows Explorer and right click on our device. From the context menu, select the formatting item.
- In the window that appears, select the FAT32 file system. Check the box in the Quick Format item and start the process.
- We are waiting for the formatting to complete and when a notification of a successful outcome appears, click the "OK" button.
Now that our flash drive is ready, we can move on to copying music to it.
Ripping music
The turn has come to do the main thing, now we will look at how to download music to a USB flash drive so that later it can be read in the car:
- Again, we install our drive into the USB port of a computer or laptop. We go to Windows Explorer, or rather, to the directory in which our music is located. We select the tracks that we want to listen to in the car, right-click on them and select the copy item from the context menu.
- In Windows Explorer we find our flash drive, open it, right-click on an empty space and paste the contents of the clipboard.
- We are waiting for the copying to complete and remove the drive from the USB port of the PC
As you can see, everything is very simple. Now this flash drive can be inserted into any radio in any car and the files will be read.
If the files are not MP3
If it happens that your music is not in MP3 format (which is very rare), we can always convert it the way we need it. To do this, you can use any converter installed on your computer. This option is suitable if there is a lot of music. But the easiest way is to use the services of an online service. For example, this could be online-audio-converter.com.
- Open the site and drag the music you want to convert into the window.
- We are waiting for the process to complete.
- Download files in the required format.
Now we just have to move the finished MP3 songs to our flash drive.
See also: How to disable the touchpad on an Acer laptop
Video instruction
For clarity, we have attached a video on this topic.
Finally
Now that you know how to download music to a USB flash drive so that it can be read by the machine later, we can safely finish our detailed step-by-step instructions. Enjoy your favorite songs right in your car without limits.
Do you have any questions? Feel free to ask us. As soon as possible, one of our experts will answer and help in a given situation.