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Reference number: CH001002
How do I download or save a YouTube video to my computer?
Question:
How do I download or save a YouTube video to my computer?
Answer:
YouTube has been designed to only allow users to watch and view
videos on their website. Many users want to save their favorite
videos to their computer so they can watch them without being
connected to the Internet and/or so they can watch them on other
devices. Below are the steps required for downloading and watching
YouTube videos on your computer for free.
Getting the YouTube file to your computer
Today, there are several online websites setup that
allow you to enter the URL of the
video you wish to save to the computer and be able to quickly get a
link to download the file. Below is a short list of some of the more
popular free websites.
http://keepvid.com/
http://www.videospider.info/
http://www.youtubex.com/
http://videodownloader.net
Below is a brief description of how to do this.
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Go to the YouTube video page and
copy the URL of the video you
wish to save. For example, below is a URL to a video on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R3ymHMgFAps
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Once this address has been copied visit one of
the above pages and paste that URL into the text field and hit
the submit or download button.
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If done properly the page should open a new
window or display a link that can be clicked to start the
download of the video file. Click that link and save the file.
As many of the pages state you'll have to either save
the file with a name and an
extension that ends with .flv. If you did not save the file with
.flv at the end you can right-click the file after it's been
downloaded and rename the file
so it ends with .flv.
Watching the YouTube video on your computer
Once the .flv file has been downloaded to your
computer you'll need a player that supports .flv files. Below are a
few suggestions.
FLV Player
http://www.martijndevisser.com/blog/flv-player/
VLC media player
http://www.videolan.org/
Windows Media Player
Microsoft Windows users also have the ability of playing FLV files
in Windows Media player with the right
codec. Downloading and
installing the CCCP codec
will install this codec as well as many other codecs you'll likely
need in the future.
Converting the YouTube video to a different movie format
There are dozens of different software programs
available and online services available that will allow you to
convert FLV files into another format. Below is a short listing of
some of the free services and products we recommend.
Media Convert - An excellent online service
that can convert FLV files into dozens of other formats.
http://www.media-convert.com/
Vixy - Another great online service that
allows you to download and save YouTube video files to another
format.
http://vixy.net/
Additional information:
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