How to Download Video Clips from Internet to Hard Drive

By Naomi Bolton

i Screenshot courtesy of Google.

There is a wealth of video clips available on the Internet, ranging from the education to the humorous. To view these clips, you'll need a fast, stable Internet connection. If your connection is not fast enough to stream the videos smoothly, or you want to store some of the clips to view when you are offline, there are a few options available. Online video downloading services enable you to specify a URL from which to download video files, while browser extensions allow you to grab clips with the click of a button. There is also free video downloading software available that is able to grab video clips from the Internet and store it on your hard drive.

Online Video Downloading Services

Step 1

Navigate to the website with the video clip that you want to download.

Step 2

Right-click the URL of the page with the video in the address bar of your browser and click "Copy" from the pop-up menu.

Step 3

Navigate to an online video downloading service such as Keepvid, Keep-Tube or Vidownloader (links in Resources) and right-click the input box at the top of the page.

Step 4

Click "Paste" from the pop-up menu and then click the "Download" button.

Step 5

Click "Run this time" if you see a Java permission notification and then click the "Run" button.

Step 6

Click the download link for the file format in which you want to download the video clip. The file sizes and quality is displayed next to the download links. Once the download is complete, the file is stored on your hard drive and can be viewed even when offline.

Browser Extensions

Step 1

Navigate to the extension download page for your preferred browser, for example, Mozilla Add-Ons for Firefox, Opera add-ons for Opera and Internet Explorer Gallery for Internet Explorer.

Step 2

Download a browser extension. Examples include FVD Video Downloader for Chrome, Flash Video Downloader for Opera or FlashCatch Video for Internet Explorer (links in Resources).

Step 3

Navigate to the website with the video clip that you want to download.

Step 4

Click the video download extension button at the top of the browser window to display a list of options. Depending on the extension, you are offered a list of video formats or a list of all videos on the page. Click the appropriate link to download the video clip to your hard drive.

Video Downloading Software

Step 1

Download and install a free video downloading program such as Orbit Downloader (link in Resources).

Step 2

Launch Orbit Downloader once the installation is complete.

Step 3

Launch your browser and navigate to the site with the video clip that you want to download.

Step 4

Click "Tools" on the Orbit Downloader menu bar and then click "Grab++."

Step 5

Click "Action" and then click "Preferences" from the drop-down list. Click the "Monitoring" tab and then click the check box next to the browser in which the video clip is playing.

Step 6

Click "OK" and then click the "Video" link. Click the check box next to the video clip that you want to download and then click the "Download" button. Refresh the browser tab with the video clip if it is not detected by the software.

Step 7

Click "Browse" and then select a destination on your hard drive for the video clip. Enter a name for the video clip and then click the "Download" button to save the file.

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