Update : Saving, viewing & converting files for free

You can save any file I post here very easily if you follow the steps below. Most will be saved as flv format which stinks if you want to put them on your I-Pod, flash drive (to view on your nice new digital-TV) or burn them to DVD. All you need is listed below to do it all for free.

First are two download devices. One is a program extension for both Mozilla Firefox & Internet Explorer. It's called "Orbit Downloader". I like the program and use it most all the time but the upgrades never seem to work for me. I built a brand new PC yesterday and installed the latest version and it does not see content from YouTube. I have had that same problem in the past and my cure for it was getting an older version and keeping a copy of it. My next option is Ant.com's AntBar. It is a browser addon, but virus free. I have never tried it on Internet Explorer because I won't use internet Explorer but it does work fine with Firefox. The only couple complaints I have on that addon are that everything goes by default into it's own folder and next that it gives the file the name that it chooses. I hate that because I download telivision shows in series and it's almost impossible to put them into proper order for viewing when the names are something like "oyouu iiuoo 0ast" & "agth fgres tytytyooon" & people name them that way for a reason (to avoid search engines). Between the two & with a little bit of messing around with em you can save just about anything you view or listen to.

Here is the version of Orbit Downloader that I'm still using [version 2.71], here is their site for the newest one [link here]. Here is the site for Ant Bar...

Download from any video site

Download version 1.5 for : Internet Explorer - Mozilla Firefox

Those are to save with. To view I recomend you get 2 players. First is VLC Player from Media Lan because it will play almost everything "if" you get the additional plugin package. Both are free at this link [here] for Windows or Mac. Some flv movies and vids will not decode properly with that application, so you might need another. It's a sweet tiny stand alone program (means you don't need to install it and can even run it off of a flash drive), it's called appropriatly "Wimpy Media Player". Here is the link to that [link]. One great thing about Wimpy is you can toss it onto a disk or drive with a movie or some vids and you don't get screamed at for installing anything on yer friends computer. Just click on it and browse for the file or drag the file onto it & it plays.

Last is FormatFactory:

You should grab this right now and save a copy of the program in your storage files because out of about 100 progs I've seen, used (& paid for) this one is the tops. It can convert anything except SWF & FLA to anything and it's FREE. I have seen these progs jump from free to "fork over $89.00 for a working version" within days and without warning. Here is the link for the free version out now [link]. One tad bit of advice with this prog is you gotta use the settings if you value good sound quality. By default it has audio output set to 122 bit, I'm not a fan of blurry sounds, it is set same for ripping cd's. I just go into settings and increase the quality settings and file is a little larger but worth the extra effort & space consumption.