Erasing a Rewritable CD (CD-RW)

You can erase the CD-RW within Windows; that is not an iTunes function. Be aware however, that many regular stereos have trouble with burned CD-RWs. You are better off burning your audio CDs onto CD-Rs.

So I formated the CD in windows, but it is still not recognizing my CD is a "blank" cd. All my cd players support cd-RWs even my car cd player and for as often as I like to change my music there is no reason to waste cds. The only reason I even need to use itunes to burn the music is because it is an m4p.

What were you burning your music with before? Sounds like it was working better. If the only issue is the .m4p's, I'd strongly suggest you stop buying those "protected" files, as they inevitably cause problems.

I would love to, but I got $20 gift card for iTunes from work. I normally use Nero, but can't burn m4p files with anything but iTunes. And the only reason I really want to burn these files to CD is to rip them back to MP3s.

I just learned that iTunes-purchased songs are limited to 7 burns to CD. And I don't know if you can reverse or de-authorize them for re-use. Just be aware...

After you have burned a cd from a playlist just import it again and you will never have to worry about the 7 time limit on the songs you bought.

I just learned that iTunes-purchased songs are limited to 7 burns to CD

A specific playlist containing DRM iTunes songs can only be burned 7 times.
Not sure why you would burn a single playlist more than 7 times, but simply make a new (different) playlist.

Wow, big can of worms. Taking it one at a time.

Formatting a CDRW will render it unreadable in iTunes. This is because formatting it sets it up as a Windows system disc suitable for data only and readable by Windows only. Always "erase" never "format".

As a rule whenever I buy songs, the very first thing I do with them (right after playing them to make sure they downloaded OK) is BURN'EM Once they are on a CD (or CDRW) I rip them into mp3s and ditch the m4p files. That way I can do whatever I want with the music I bought. I hate DRM, and I hate someone else telling me what I can and can't do or how many times with something I _paid good money for_, like a $40 box set of 6 discs. I use about a dozen different programs with my music, and m4p is only for use in iTunes, so I convert everything to mp3. The it can go on my mp3 player (not an iPod), to my car stereo through the USB port, from my PC to my Mac and vice-versa, or wherever.

So you are not concerned with quality at all?
They are already 128 kbps and that loses quite a bit of data.
When you reRIP them as MP3 or any lossy format (at any bitrate) you lose a lot more data.

I've never noticed any depreciation in sound quality by taking a download, burning it and then ripping it into the same bit rate it was from the download. It was a 128kbps file, and when I ripped it it was still a 128kbps file.

If I take a cup of water and freeze it, then thaw it out again, is it something other than water?

Burning a purchased download to a CD converts the data file from a 128kbps mp3 to a 44100kbps aiff file which is exactly how it would be if I purchased the CD retail. Ripping it back onto the HD simply reverses the process. All it takes away is waht was "put back in" when it was burned.

As proof of the above post, I have 23,000 songs that were ripped from a cassette tape collection of over 1400 tapes. I use Roxio CD SpinDoctor to 'clean them up' which only works with 44.1kbps aiff files, so I have to run the mp3s through SoundConverter first, then I can remove the hiss, and enhance the sound quality where necessary in CD SpinDoctor, then convert the filtered aiff back to mp3 at the same bit rate. And it sounds just fine, actually a lot better than the hissing tape mp3 did. I've done just over 8400 of these so far with splendid results.

If you are satisfied with the results, great.

But there is loss of quality which is why mp3 and aac are called lossy formats.

If I take a cup of water and freeze it, then thaw it out again, is it something other than water?

It's not the same. You are freezing all the water.
Converting to a lossy format does not retain all the data. The file size is reduced by throwing away data.
When you burn it to an audio CD, the original bits are not magically returned.

Burning a purchased download to a CD converts the data file from a 128kbps mp3 to a 44100kbps aiff file which is exactly how it would be if I purchased the CD retail

It may have the same amount of info but it is not even close to the same info.

Ripping it back onto the HD simply reverses the process

Sort of. It puts all the info from the mp3 back onto the CD but you have already thrown away when you converted to mp3 the first time.

All it takes away is waht was "put back in" when it was burned.

No it doesn't because there is nothing to tell the RIPper what was put back in.

RIP an audio CD to mp3 or AAC at 32 kbps and see if you can hear the difference between the CD and the RIP'd file.
Then burn that file back to an audio CD. According to your post, it will now sound exactly like the original CD.

Every time a file is converted from anything to a lossy format, data is thrown away.

32kbps? You MUST be joking! I have "old time radio shows" I wouldn't listen to at that rate. ALL of my cassettes were ripped with WireTap Pro (in 2005 - Before Wiretap Studio) and I did them at 169. I wanted to allow for some loss when I cleaned them up, and I could save the final copy at 128. I'm playing my files through a $120 Philips 5.1 system Off a Sound Blaster Live 24 bit external card, and they sound as good as or better than CDs I've bought that were burned in a plant somewhere from a second or third generation gold master.
I could see if I was ripping and burning and re-ripping about six or seven times where the loss would be discernible, but one time? Honestly, I'm not that particular. Besides, I listen to most of my music in my 1970 VW Beetle. I'd need about $3000 worth of sound matting, and fiberglass to drown out the noise from the car to be able to pick apart impurities in my CDs.

I suggested 32 kbps as an example so you could hear a definite difference.

As previously stated, if you are satisfied with the amount of loss you are adding (subtracting?) to your music, great.
But it is not the same as the original.

I guess my point would be that the 'original' is a file that is locked and limited in its use by someone else in spite of the fact that *I bought and paid for it.* I'll take an indiscernible loss of data in ripping it to a usable file to get rid if the DRM.
To me, the means is more than justified by the end.