PC Doctor April 28, 2011
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Dear PC Doctor,
Is there a way where I could download a video off of YouTube and save it to the hard drive of my computer?
Thanks,
Becca
Dear Becca,
Why, yes you can! Truth be told, it's not a feature that YouTube has available, but with the use of a third-party plug-in, you can download almost any flash-based player on a website, including YouTube.
Since it uses the easiest method, I'll show you how to use DownloadHelper in Firefox. Since it's difficult to find the extension while searching for it, here is the exact URL (web address) to the link to install it. (goo.gl/qVhM8) Just be sure you open it in Firefox or it won't work! If you don’t use Mozilla Firefox, you can download it free at www.firefox.com.
It's easy to install the Add-on, just click the “Add to Firefox” button. After it finishes downloading, click on the Install Now button. Once it finishes installing, restart Firefox. Upon restarting, visit a video site like YouTube and start playing the video you wish to download. To the direct left of the address bar in Firefox, there will be a little button icon. When there isn't any content available to download, it will be grayed-out and unavailable. Once it finds media available for download, it will light up and become animated. Click the little down arrow on the icon to see all the versions that can be downloaded. Preferably, I'd always stick with the .mp4 files, versus the .flv's format. Depending on the video, you may even be able to download a high definition file. Be aware, the larger video sizes will take longer to download!
Enjoy!
PC Doctor
Dear PC Doctor,
I want to find a new music player for my computer. I have had iTunes before but I didn't enjoy using it. I didn't have an iPod so I didn't really need it either. What other music players are out there that I should try out?
Trey
Dear Trey,
It's great to try out different options, you'll probably find something that you'll really like, versus being stuck with something that works but you don't enjoy using. My favorite music playing software is Clementine. It's an open source and free music player that's really simple. It doesn't use up much memory and is really easy to use. You can download it for free at www.clementine-player.org. There is also a free music player called Winamp. This is music player for people who want to be able to customize their music playing experience. It's a really powerful program that has many skins and plug-in available for the customizing. Get it for free at www.winamp.com! Another simpler but still powerful music player is foobar2000. You can also download it for free at www.foobar2000.org.
Try them all out and pick your favorite!
PC Doctor
Until next time... happy computing!
Posted: Thu, Apr 28, 2011
Updated Thu, Apr 28, 2011
