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I was looking for some good applications for downloading from YouTube and Google Videos. Can you recommend some good freeware software?

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Do you want them converted as well or just in the .flv format? – random Jul 17 '09 at 5:30
On what platform? – innaM Jul 17 '09 at 10:00
my platfrom is windows – s_ruchit Jul 18 '09 at 12:51

closed as not constructive by random Aug 17 '11 at 2:19

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15 Answers

up vote 11 down vote accepted

For YouTube, I use http://kickyoutube.com/.

Just add the "kick" word in the video URL before youtube and you will be able to download it in many formats, no software to install.

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doesn't works on Google Chrome – Jader Dias Aug 23 '09 at 14:58
1  
it does. I just checked again, chrome 4. You do know you have to right click, save link as right? – alpha1 Dec 3 '09 at 4:56
WOW! What a simple yet great service! – Andrei Rinea Jul 1 '11 at 20:01
update: SaveYouTube is shutting down! Please visit SaveMedia.com instead. Make sure to update your bookmarks! – Tshepang Mar 30 at 23:36

My personal favorite: xVideoServiceThief

alt text

xVST is open source freeware, a portable version is available.

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I use the DownloadHelper Firefox add-on.

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I use Vixy.net all the time and it gets the job done.

The nice thing about Vixy is that it's available as a web service, just go to their page, paste in your Youtube video url and you're good to go. So software to install whatsoever.

And it's also available as a desktop app. You can download both the Mac and Windows versions. The only downside of Vixy is that both the web service and cross-platform app can't at the moment download Youtube HD videos, only SD videos. But they are working on adding the feature soon I believe.

That's my two cents.

Get vixy at vixy.net

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The one I use is http://keepvid.com/. Use it via the website or with its bookmarklet.

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I would try the cross-platform* Tubemaster++. If you leave it running in the background, it will automatically capture streaming video and audio to your computer by scanning incoming data, and as such, is browser independent. Beyond just downloading the files, it can convert them into dozens of formats, both video and audio.

*Windows and Linux versions are available, the Mac version is still under development.

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If you are using Safari (on a Mac or Windows) you can open the activity window, find the video.flv file and double click on it to download it. No other software is needed.

If you are on a Mac and want an all-in-one application, use the application called TubeTV which handles download and converting files into iTunes.

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TubeTV, although the interface could be better, is fantastic for its ease of use. – David Pearce Jul 17 '09 at 5:52

I'm using RealPlayer, it ads a download button when you move over a video and it works with almost every site. You should try it...

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YouTube Downloader

According to Cnet: This simple freeware application works pretty well, given how basic the interface is. It has two main features: to download FLV files from YouTube, and to convert them to most major formats. If there's a YouTube URL in your clipboard, it will automatically paste it for you when you click on the dialog box. From there, just hit OK and the downloading will commence. One more left-click is all it takes to load the file in the converter, which supports iPhone, iPod, PSP, cell phone, AVI, MP3, WMV, and Xvid. Surprisingly, there's also a basic video editor for cropping videos by time stamp. You can also cut out the sound when converting.

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FreeFirefox addon Easy YouTube Video Downloader 1.6 gets the job done the easiest way - single click direct download buttons for FLV, 3GP, MP4 and HD qualities.

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The HowTo Geek has a bookmarklet

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A very easy way to download clips for Firefox users is YousableTubeFix script for greasemonkey. It can also block advertisements, set video size and it integrates nicely with already existing Youtube interface.

another interesting thing about it is that it is possible to select quality of the downloaded video.

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I always use Nirsoft's Video Cache View. You get to save the video after it's fully loaded and saved to cache. The good thing is it gives you the same file that it serves to the browser, so if it was originally flv, you get that same flv.

The drawback is you have to rename the file by yourself, because it uses the cache filename. Also, for large videos, you have to save them while keeping the window/tab of the video open because usually browsers won't keep them in the cache.

No queueing and fancy stuffs. Since it saves whatever you have on the cache only, if you want to download a video of different quality, you have to reopen it in the browser with that quality.

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Freemake Video Downloader has support for 40+ video sites. It's a free Windows application. It also supports video format conversion.

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protected by nhinkle Apr 25 '11 at 8:07

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