Getting the sound off the audio tape into a computer requires a set of RCA-type stereo cables that terminate in a 3.5mm mini-plug for attaching to a computer. These cables are available at electronics stores. The large red and white audio plugs connect to the output or playback jacks of the tape deck and the other end with the mini-plug connects to the sound card jack, located on the back of a desktop computer or the edge of a laptop.
Apple computers are bundled with recording software for importing and manipulating sound files. Computers with a Windows platform are equipped with Microsoft Sound Recorder. Both systems can handle the analog signal from an audio tape and convert it to a digital format that can be burned to a CD. More elaborate recording studios are available for download online. Many are free (see the reference section for a link to a free download), but you must make sure the software you want to use is compatible with your operating platform, typically either Mac or Windows.
Once you've launched the recording software and turned on the tape deck, the computer will recognize that you've connected new hardware. The recording software is set be default to capture signals from devices connected to the computer sound card. Begin recording by clicking the record button (usually a round, red button) on the computer monitor, then pressing the Play button on the tape deck. Once you've captured all the audio recordings from tape, save them to a music folder on your computer as .WAV files to burn them to a CD.
Open the media player on a computer equipped with a CD burner and insert a blank, recordable CD in the tray. Click the "Burn" tab on the top of your media software, then open the folder containing your music files from the audio tapes. Most CD burning software allows you to create a list of songs to burn by clicking each song title and dragging it with the mouse to the burn list. You'll want to keep an eye on the "Time Remaining" box as you drag files to be burned. Blank CDs can only hold a certain amount of data, so you cannot add more songs to a burn list than the CD can store. Once your list is complete, click "Burn CD" and the files will be copied from your computer to the blank CD.