How to save videos to your computer

It's easy to copy a video from the Web to your hard drive

By the Ourmedia staff

Different sites require different video players to play back a video. At many video hosting sites, videos are converted into Adboe's Flash format. Too often, websites fail to include a link that lets you save the Flash video to your computer. A few sites do provide a text link, which lets you right-click and save the file in the manner outlined below.

Sites like Ourmedia or Blip.tv post video in the original format produced by the creator. When you play a video on such sites, it generally comes to your computer as a progressive download, which means it gets stored in a temporary cache folder. If you want to make a permanent copy of the file to play at your leisure or to transfer to a portable device, do this:

1. Go to where the video is displayed. For example, on Ourmedia, right-click on "Archive.org: Media link" at the bottom of the media window.

2) On a PC, right-click on the link and click Save Target As (in Internet Explorer) or Save Link As (in Firefox). On a Mac, click Control > Save Link As. Then save it to a folder on your hard drive.

Be aware that not all video creators may want their video downloaded or shared without permission. Check to see if there's a license attached to the work, such as Creative Commons or traditional copyright.

Creative Commons License
Notice: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License, compatible with Wikipedia.

Please comment on, correct or expand upon this article. Contact us.

up