How to Download Flash Videos in Computer and Mobile :

More than 24 hours of video content is uploaded to the internet per minute. With so much video content being uploaded, people have felt the need to download videos but most users don't have the tools to download videos. So what does a user do?



Download Flash Videos:

Web's Video Format: Most websites use the  Adobe Flash Video (FLV) format to display the various types of videos. The reason for this is that FLV files use comparatively less amount of storage space for the same video quality.

How to Play Flash Videos:

To play FLV media in browsers, you need to have Adobe's Flash Player plugin installed. To play FLV format in your personal computer (PC), you need to have a media player capable of playing FLV videos. VLC Media player is one such free media player which can easily play FLV files. (To download VLC Media Player and other essential software, visit 5 Essential free software for Windows PC.) Update: Not necessarily, modern web browsers that support HTML5 can play flash videos without requiring Adobe's plugin.

Download Flash Videos via Internet Explorer:

This technique uses copying flash videos from Internet Explorer's temporary files cache. A temporary files cache is a collection of items which are stored on the disk to load them quickly without downloading them again. Not only Internet Explorer, but almost all browsers have a temporary files cache. But most of these browsers store the files in cache without any extension which leads to complexity in finding saved videos. On the other hand, Internet Explorer stores the file "as it is" in its cache. To download FLV Videos via Internet Explorer, follow the instructions given below:-


For Internet Explorer 6 and earlier versions:-

    Play the video of your choice in Internet Explorer.
    Go to Control Panel. Click on switch to classic view in the sidebar.
    Click on Folder Options.
    Click on View Tab and encircle Show hidden files and folders.
    Go to My Computer.
    Click on your System Drive.(The drive containing your Windows files.)
    Click on Documents and Settings.
    Click on your User name.
    Click on Local Settings.
    Copy your Temporary Internet Files folder and paste it to your desktop.
    Search the pasted folder for "*.flv" without the quotes. And play the files to find your video. Copy your found video and paste it to the location of your choice.


For Internet Explorer 7 ,8 and 9:-

    Play the video of your choice in Internet Explorer.
    Go to Control Panel. Click on switch to classic view in the sidebar.
    Click on Folder Options.
    Click on View Tab and encircle Show hidden files and folders and de-select Hide protected Operating System Files.
    Windows XP Users, follow the instructions given above for IE6 after Step 4.
    Windows 7 and Windows Vista users, navigate to your system drive.
    Navigate to Usersname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\.
    Copy the Temporary Internet Files folder and paste it to your desktop.
    Search the pasted folder for "*.flv" without the quotes. And play the files to find your video. Copy your found video and paste it to the location of your choice.


Download Flash Video


Downloading FLV Videos via third party software: Due to the popularity of watching videos online, many third party companies have manufactured many software programs to download .FLV videos. A simple web search containing "free software to download flash videos" is likely to return a lot of such software programs.


Downloading Flash videos via Real Media Player: Real Media Player states that it is the best free media player available to play, manage and download all your mp3, flash and video files. I do not quite agree but still, Real Media Player offers a very good plugin with which you can download FLV videos easily. Whenever Real Media Player detects a flash video, it offers an option to download the video right on top of it.



Downloading Flash Videos in Mobiles: Mobile Users can use Bolt Browser to download FLV videos directly to their mobiles. Bolt automatically re-formats the video into a version supported by the mobile which can then be easily viewed. Update: Bolt Browser has been discontinued. Opera Mini can also be used to download flash videos directly but Opera has some bugs when it comes to reformatting videos according to specific mobiles.

Youtube Videos
Charlie bit my finger. Most popular Online Video

Third Party Websites to Download Flash videos: There are many free third party websites on the internet which offer you to download flash videos just by entering the URL of the video, selecting the format and clicking on the download button. Few such sites are:-


1.  Vixy: Vixy offers you to download flash videos in .MP4 format, AVI format, .MOV for Macintosh, .3GP format for mobiles and .MP3 format for Audio Players.
2.  Keepvid: Keepvid allows you to download flash videos in a wide variety of formats including .MP4, .3GP( high and low quality) and yeah, .FLV format.
3.  MP4Flash: You can download videos in MP4 format, 3GP format and FLV format in the quality of your choice using this online video downloader.
4.  SaveVid: SaveVid  also offers downloading flash videos in various formats with the option of downloading them in different qualities.

So, that brings us to the end of this article. If you know some other ways to download flash videos, feel free to send me an email and they will be included in this article.