downloading YouTube videos

I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative comments
from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The downloader
I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Think you'll find downloading YouTube (or for that matter any flv streaming
media) was, is and will continue to be a never ending game between YouTube
who don't want you to be able to do that and software developers continually
updating in response to YouTube's changes.

One way I've found to do without all the bs is basically just before the
video finishes I turn off the pc, e.g. hard reset. This prevents the browser
from being able to delete the temporary file it was using. Once rebooted, I
locate, copy and rename that specific file (experience required to determine
the actual file, watch what file changes size in your specific "Temp" folder
while video loads and plays) and then use a stand alone conversion program
to change it's format, e.g. Any Video Converter.

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Think you'll find downloading YouTube (or for that matter any flv streaming
media) was, is and will continue to be a never ending game between YouTube
who don't want you to be able to do that and software developers continually
updating in response to YouTube's changes.

One way I've found to do without all the bs is basically just before the
video finishes I turn off the pc, e.g. hard reset. This prevents the browser
from being able to delete the temporary file it was using. Once rebooted, I
locate, copy and rename that specific file (experience required to determine
the actual file, watch what file changes size in your specific "Temp" folder
while video loads and plays) and then use a stand alone conversion program
to change it's format, e.g. Any Video Converter.

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Thank you, pjp! Sounds like more than I really want to do, though!

Jo-Anne

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Think you'll find downloading YouTube (or for that matter any flv
streaming media) was, is and will continue to be a never ending game
between YouTube who don't want you to be able to do that and software
developers continually updating in response to YouTube's changes.

One way I've found to do without all the bs is basically just before the
video finishes I turn off the pc, e.g. hard reset. This prevents the
browser from being able to delete the temporary file it was using. Once
rebooted, I locate, copy and rename that specific file (experience
required to determine the actual file, watch what file changes size in
your specific "Temp" folder while video loads and plays) and then use a
stand alone conversion program to change it's format, e.g. Any Video
Converter.

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and
if so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on
my WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Thank you, pjp! Sounds like more than I really want to do, though!

Jo-Anne

"pjp" wrote in message
...
Think you'll find downloading YouTube (or for that matter any flv
streaming media) was, is and will continue to be a never ending game
between YouTube who don't want you to be able to do that and software
developers continually updating in response to YouTube's changes.

One way I've found to do without all the bs is basically just before the
video finishes I turn off the pc, e.g. hard reset. This prevents the
browser from being able to delete the temporary file it was using. Once
rebooted, I locate, copy and rename that specific file (experience
required to determine the actual file, watch what file changes size in
your specific "Temp" folder while video loads and plays) and then use a
stand alone conversion program to change it's format, e.g. Any Video
Converter.

"Jo-Anne" wrote in message
...
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and
if so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on
my WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader?
(I Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some
negative comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site
possible. The downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv
format--and if so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC
Media Player on my WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

The YouTube video, once viewed, will be in your IE TIF folder. Assuming
the file is intact, you should be able to copy it to another folder play
it with VLC. It's probably a good idea to rename it and append the .flv
extension to it.

If you would rather not do that much work, entering the YouTube URL into
the keepvid.com site should work:

http://keepvid.com/

Othre people like to use Firefox and the greasemonkey plugin to download
YouTube videos.

Or simply don't worry about it if you have a high-speed connection and
if you think YouTube will wind up keeping the video on its site (this is
usually the case).

As long as your video player plays .flv files, I see no advantage in
converting them to another format.

Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader?
(I Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some
negative comments from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site
possible. The downloader I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv
format--and if so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC
Media Player on my WinXP computer.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

The YouTube video, once viewed, will be in your IE TIF folder. Assuming
the file is intact, you should be able to copy it to another folder play
it with VLC. It's probably a good idea to rename it and append the .flv
extension to it.

If you would rather not do that much work, entering the YouTube URL into
the keepvid.com site should work:

http://keepvid.com/

Othre people like to use Firefox and the greasemonkey plugin to download
YouTube videos.

Or simply don't worry about it if you have a high-speed connection and
if you think YouTube will wind up keeping the video on its site (this is
usually the case).

As long as your video player plays .flv files, I see no advantage in
converting them to another format.

Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments
from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader
I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

Sounds good to me. Some people had problems with cnet.com? Well, they
may have problems with some other sites too, for that matter. So far I
haven't run into such with cnet.com or download.com. Maybe someone else
has had some other experiences though.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

I don't see any point in converting FLV videos, assuming you have some FLV
capable player.

Well, maybe there is (possibly) one point: if you were going to burn and
play a DVD disk with the videos stored on them (i.e., it might be that MPG
is a more universally recognized playback format than FLV for some DVD
players).

Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments
from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader
I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

Sounds good to me. Some people had problems with cnet.com? Well, they
may have problems with some other sites too, for that matter. So far I
haven't run into such with cnet.com or download.com. Maybe someone else
has had some other experiences though.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

I don't see any point in converting FLV videos, assuming you have some FLV
capable player.

Well, maybe there is (possibly) one point: if you were going to burn and
play a DVD disk with the videos stored on them (i.e., it might be that MPG
is a more universally recognized playback format than FLV for some DVD
players).

"Bill in Co" wrote in message
m...
Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments
from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader
I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

Sounds good to me. Some people had problems with cnet.com? Well, they
may have problems with some other sites too, for that matter. So far I
haven't run into such with cnet.com or download.com. Maybe someone else
has had some other experiences though.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and
if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

I don't see any point in converting FLV videos, assuming you have some FLV
capable player.

Well, maybe there is (possibly) one point: if you were going to burn and
play a DVD disk with the videos stored on them (i.e., it might be that MPG
is a more universally recognized playback format than FLV for some DVD
players).


Thank you, Bill! If I can't get Daave's suggestions to work, I'll go ahead
and download the downloader. All I really want to is to make sure I can
watch certain videos when I need them (they contain techniques that aren't
easy to follow from written instructions). I figured one can't guarantee
that YouTube will keep them up forever.

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne

"Bill in Co" wrote in message
m...
Jo-Anne wrote:
I have two questions about downloading YouTube videos:

1. Is cnet.com a safe site from which to download a video downloader? (I
Googled cnet.com and got an OK review from McAfee but some negative
comments
from individuals.) I'd like to use the safest site possible. The
downloader
I was looking is YouTube Downloader 2.5.6.

Sounds good to me. Some people had problems with cnet.com? Well, they
may have problems with some other sites too, for that matter. So far I
haven't run into such with cnet.com or download.com. Maybe someone else
has had some other experiences though.

2. Is there an advantage to converting videos from the .flv format--and
if
so, what is the best format to convert to? I use VLC Media Player on my
WinXP computer.

Thank you!

I don't see any point in converting FLV videos, assuming you have some FLV
capable player.

Well, maybe there is (possibly) one point: if you were going to burn and
play a DVD disk with the videos stored on them (i.e., it might be that MPG
is a more universally recognized playback format than FLV for some DVD
players).


Thank you, Bill! If I can't get Daave's suggestions to work, I'll go ahead
and download the downloader. All I really want to is to make sure I can
watch certain videos when I need them (they contain techniques that aren't
easy to follow from written instructions). I figured one can't guarantee
that YouTube will keep them up forever.

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne

Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you, Daave! I'm afraid I need more help, though. First, I
checked Temporary Internet Files, which showed a folder named
Content.IE5, which seemed to contain a bunch of letter/number jpg,
gif, etc. files. Did I do something wrong?

Try this (it's for IE7, but if you have IE8, I'm sure it's similar):

Tools | Internet Options | Browsing History: Settings | View Files

Click the "Size" column until the largest files are on top. You should
see it/them now.

In IE7, this is the location:

C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files

(If you're in a folder by the name of Content.IE5, I'll bet it's under
another profile!)

You could also get there using Windows Explorer, but you need to show
hidden *and* protected operating system files in Folder Options in order
to get there that way.

Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you, Daave! I'm afraid I need more help, though. First, I
checked Temporary Internet Files, which showed a folder named
Content.IE5, which seemed to contain a bunch of letter/number jpg,
gif, etc. files. Did I do something wrong?

Try this (it's for IE7, but if you have IE8, I'm sure it's similar):

Tools | Internet Options | Browsing History: Settings | View Files

Click the "Size" column until the largest files are on top. You should
see it/them now.

In IE7, this is the location:

C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files

(If you're in a folder by the name of Content.IE5, I'll bet it's under
another profile!)

You could also get there using Windows Explorer, but you need to show
hidden *and* protected operating system files in Folder Options in order
to get there that way.

"Daave" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you, Daave! I'm afraid I need more help, though. First, I
checked Temporary Internet Files, which showed a folder named
Content.IE5, which seemed to contain a bunch of letter/number jpg,
gif, etc. files. Did I do something wrong?

Try this (it's for IE7, but if you have IE8, I'm sure it's similar):

Tools | Internet Options | Browsing History: Settings | View Files

Click the "Size" column until the largest files are on top. You should see
it/them now.

In IE7, this is the location:

C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files

(If you're in a folder by the name of Content.IE5, I'll bet it's under
another profile!)

You could also get there using Windows Explorer, but you need to show
hidden *and* protected operating system files in Folder Options in order
to get there that way.


Done! It worked perfectly, Daave! I have IE7 on this computer, and I
followed your directions, using Tools | Internet Options, etc. So nice that
I can do this without adding yet another program.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne

"Daave" wrote in message
...
Jo-Anne wrote:

Thank you, Daave! I'm afraid I need more help, though. First, I
checked Temporary Internet Files, which showed a folder named
Content.IE5, which seemed to contain a bunch of letter/number jpg,
gif, etc. files. Did I do something wrong?

Try this (it's for IE7, but if you have IE8, I'm sure it's similar):

Tools | Internet Options | Browsing History: Settings | View Files

Click the "Size" column until the largest files are on top. You should see
it/them now.

In IE7, this is the location:

C:\Documents and Settings\[profile]\Local Settings\Temporary Internet
Files

(If you're in a folder by the name of Content.IE5, I'll bet it's under
another profile!)

You could also get there using Windows Explorer, but you need to show
hidden *and* protected operating system files in Folder Options in order
to get there that way.


Done! It worked perfectly, Daave! I have IE7 on this computer, and I
followed your directions, using Tools | Internet Options, etc. So nice that
I can do this without adding yet another program.

Thank you!

Jo-Anne