O.K. I am still using Cakewalk Pro Audio 8. Sometime ago I backed up some .wa~ files that cakewalk produces when you make a recording. The projects that these files were associated with have long been deleted. However I want to convert the files to mp3. Windows media player plays the files fine but I want to upload them to my website as mp3's. Does anyone have a converter for these type files? P.S.- I couldn't find anywhere on the site to ask this question so I'm sorry for the inconvenience. thanks!

That software is blast from the past, but as I recall they are regular wave files in disguise  so you can just rename them to .wav

If You have iTunes you can convert wave to mp3

Thanks for replying D.Triny but I backed up the files to a CD and windows won't let me change the file extension when I right click and go to properties. And itunes doesn't recognise the file. Any other ideas?

Frequently when copying a file from CD it's  attributes are set to "read only" if you copy the files to the hard disk, then right click you should be able to turn off the  read only flag which which will let you rename them 

Thanks D.Triny. I will try that when I get home from work.

You have to copy them from the CD to your disk drive. Unless you used re-writable CDs (CD-RW, not CD-R), you can only write on them once then you can't change them. 

I'm I reading that you are trying to convert a wave file to a MP3 by renaming the file extension?  That's sort of too funny.... 

All you gotta do is insert the CD and rip it to a MP'3. WMP almost does this automatically when you insert a CD. But change the settings to MP3 or it will default to a WMA file. Also if you want better quality set it to 190 or higher. 

You can use any Ripping program like Nero, WMP. Media Monkey, ( iTunes; boo)  
You can convert the WAVE file directly without putting it on a CD with some software.   Wave LAb, Sound forge or Audacity and  There are plenty of freeware conversion programs too. 

I used a CD-R disc not CD-RW. Will the suggestion above still work?

Yes.

Problem solved! I was trying to change permissions for the files on my desktop which is running Windows XP. Something told me to try doing it on my laptop that runs Windows 7. So I copied one of the .wa~ files to my my laptop's hard drive. Then I changed the settings in windows to show the file extension .wa~ of the file that I copied. Once the extension was showing all I had to do is rename the file changing the extension to .wav instead of .wa~. Next, I converted the .wav file to an mp3. The mp3 plays perfectly. Thanks guys!