Install a vinyl conversion software program on your computer. These programs can be found online or may come with your turntable, if you bought a conversion-ready turntable system.
Download a digital audio organizer and player on your computer. These popular software programs are free and sometimes packaged with your vinyl conversion software.
Plug in your turntable to the computer. This can be accomplished in one of two ways. If your turntable is equipped with a USB plug, simply connect the cable from the turntable to a USB port on the computer. If it is not equipped with a USB plug, connect the turntable to a stereo as you would to play a record, then run an RCA cord from the digital out of the stereo to the "line in" input jack on the computer's sound card.
Open the conversion software program on your computer.
Set all levels to medium range, if your unit is so equipped. For instance, if your turntable has a gain control, set it to medium levels, as you can always adjust the sound later. Similarly, set the computer's speakers to a medium volume.
Place a record on the turntable, starting with the the side marked as the first of the two. Drop the needle on the record, then listen for the record to begin playing but do not record just yet. The vinyl record should be making noise, either through the computer's speakers or those of your stereo system.
Restart the vinyl record, playing side one, track one first.
Press the "record" button on the conversion software on your computer immediately after you've dropped the needle on the record.
Allow the first song to play in its entirety, then press the track separator button on your conversion software. Depending on the software you use, this button is likely labeled "new track" or something to that effect. Repeat this process until all songs on the first side of the album are recorded.
Press the "next" or "stop recording" button on your software as soon as the final song on the first side has finished playing.
Identify the tracks at the prompting of the conversion software. This is where you will add the name of the artist, songs and album so you can find these songs again for later playback.
Repeat steps 2 through 5 for the reverse side of the album and any subsequent albums that you choose to convert to a digital file.
Open the tracks individually in the audio editing software. Listen to the songs and determine the sound levels and trim away any excess dead space at the beginning or end of the tracks. Save the edited tracks as Mp3s.
Open your audio player or CD creation software.
Import the tunes into the player by creating a new playlist or selecting the tunes from the new files you created earlier, depending on which type of software you own.
Order the songs in the running order that they appear on the album, using your mouse to drag tracks back and forth.
Insert a blank CD into the CD burner drive on your computer. This disc should be labeled CD-R, meaning it is a recordable CD.
Click on the "burn" or "burn disc" icon on the audio software. The CD with the tracks you recorded from vinyl should be completed in about five minutes.