I used this method to save streaming videos on a web site similar to YouTube. Tried a little experiment to save a YouTube video. I was able to do so. Read on to find out how.
I did this with the Opera web browser. I'm not sure how it would work with other browsers, depending on how they save there cached files. When you go to any web page online, with any browser, a copy of that web page is automatically saved on your hard drive in your Temporary Internet Files or your Cache files.
So when you go to that page a second time you may notice it seems to load up a lot faster. That is because its loading of your hard drive and not the internet. Pressing the refresh button with reload it from the internet.
I would first recommend you empty the cache or temporary files. This would make the clips easier to find later. In Opera click on Tools and then Preferences, then the Advanced tab. Down the side you should see the word History. Click on that and then click on the Empty Now button. (note: This is with version 9.20)
Internet Explorer users: Tools - Options - General Tab - Temporary Internet Files - Delete Files. Or go through the Internet Options in the Control Panel.
SeaMonkey or Mozilla Suite: Edit - Preferences - Advanced - Cache - Clear Cache. Although Seamonkey/Mozilla Suite does not cache files in a format that this will work on. Not sure about Firefox.
So you go to www.youtube.com with the Opera browser. Click on your favorite clip. It plays automatically on mine. So let it play.
Having trouble with clips starting and stopping - this is called buffering, where so much of the clip is downloaded on your system then played and then so much more until the entire clip is played.
Try this link:
http://ask-leo.com/how_can_i_view_online_video_without_the_starts_and_stops.html
I went there and just decided to pick a clip of the first page. I decided on one called MacGyver Theme Song, solo acoustic guitar . It was only a little over a minute long. (the link incase you want to check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1CZ7yCgkOM)
When the file is finished playing go to your Internet Cache file on your hard drive. With Opera: click on Help - About Opera. In the page that displays you should see a section called Paths. The path to the cache on my system is:
C:\Program Files\Opera\profile\cache4\
So I go to this folder on my hard drive and look for the video just downloaded. This is why I recommended to empty the cache first. Because you are not going to see the actual name of the video there, not with Opera anyway. But I know to look for a file with a .tmp extension. This MacGyver clip is 2MB in length. In this example the file was named opr04D64.tmp (this is just a reflection on how Opera caches it files). So different browsers, if they save them at all will probably have their own naming scheme.
I would then copy this to another folder. If you are planning on downloading a lot of videos, do one at a time because your cache file folder is usually set to a certain size (mine is currently set at 100MB) Opera - Tools - Preferences - Advanced tab. Down the side you should see the word History. Chose your size in the Disk cache box. You can turn it off altogether or it goes up to 400MB in Opera.
The point is that if your cache fills up, older files will be deleted and overwritten by the newer ones. I'm not sure what happens if the file is bigger than the cache.
Then you have to rename the file, or at least the extension on the end. So I could rename opr04D64.tmp to opr04D64.flv. You have to rename the extension - .tmp to .flv
Note: when renaming extensions, you'll probably get a warning about renaming extensions, just click on Yes to accept.
If you cannot see extensions do the following: I still prefer using Windows Explorer to navigate my hard drive. Microsoft is making it harder and harder to find. The easiest way is to click on Start then Run then type in explorer.exe /e, c:\
Of course you can just type explorer. This will open explorer at My Documents, the extra /e, c:\ will open it up at your hard drive C:. You can even change the C: to another drive letter. I have a second hard drive D: so it would be - explorer.exe /e, d:\ Or even have it open to a particular folder. I have a folder on my D: drive called Stuff - so if I wanted to open it up automatically - explorer.exe /e, d:\stuff
Open, don't matter to where. At the top menu you should see the word Tools, click on it then Folder Options - click on the View tab. Scroll down the list and uncheck if its checked, Hide extensions for know file types.
You could also rename the first part to reflect the true name of the clip so opr04D64.tmp becomes MacGyver Theme Song, solo acoustic guitar.flv
OK. So now you need a media player to play theses special clips.
http://www.download.com/FLV-Player/3000-2139_4-10467081.html
http://www.wimpyplayer.com/products/wimpy_standalone_flv_player.html
If you prefer to take the easy way out you could go to the following link and download a special program to download the videos -
YouTube Downloader 2.11 -
http://www.download3000.com/download_19063.html
I try to keep my links updated, if these are not working just try on online search through your favorite search engine.......
......speaking of search engins
I have a Gmail or Google email account (want one http://mail.google.com/mail/signup). I already was a aware that Google, like most online business have to keep certain data records for a certain period of time.
The phone company has to keep records of all phone calls made through its system. Not the actual message but the number you call, the date, and so on. ISP - Internet Service Provider (the guys you get your internet from) do the same thing. And lord knows what other online companies like Google and Yahoo are keeping track of.
Google now gives you the ability to actually see this data now. Or maybe anybody else who might be able to access or hack into your account. And what if you give up your account and later someone else starts up one with your name. Will they be able to access this info.
To many questions - not enough answers. I got nothing to hide but personally, I don't like it.
At least you can clear your history (at least the one you can see). go to www.google.com/history.
Sign in with your user name and password, and you should then see page after page of your entire search history. Scary, isn't it? Down the left hand side you should see a button called clear items and you will be then taken to a new view of your history and you will notice that every item now has a small check box along side of it.
You can pick and chose any individual search to remove. Better yet, across the top you should see another option to clear all history.
Note: If you don't have a Gmail account you are only tracked by your IP address.
I find myself thinking twice about using Google anymore. Guess it depends on how paranoid you are.
Try Yahoo,or if you still insist on Google try...
According to their site: no cookies, no search-term records, access log deleted within 48 hours.
QUOTE from their site:
Since 2000, Google has recorded your search terms, the date-time of each search, the globally-unique ID in your cookie (it expires in 2038), and your IP address. This information is available to governments on request. If your favorite site features a Google search box, ask them to install their own local site search. They could also use our site search for webmasters, which shows the same results without the tracking.
UNQUOTE
Of course this site might be worst for you??? Who knows. My concern with Yahoo is that now they are partnering with Big Brother, also know as Microsoft, I'm afraid the idea of online privacy is becoming more and more of a myth.
Recently tried to download a movie file with the .mov extension. Its a Quicktime movie file. My browser was setup to automatically play rather than download this file. I searched around in the settings to find the option to change it, assuming it existed.
Found it. Click on Tools then Preferences, down the left-hand side, click on the word Downloads on the Advanced tab. Listed are all the download types and how your browser handles them.
I went looking for the .mov extension, under the heading of MIME type, its is listed as video/quicktime with the files extensions listed as qt,mov.
Highlight this line by clicking on it and then click on the Edit button on the side. And you have any number of options to chose from, in this case, I wanted to Save to disk. Then Ok. Thats it.