Flash Video Downloader

Pros

• Free
• Easy to set up
• Quick, simple controls

Cons

• Larger resource requirements than a browser add-on
• Lacks configuration settings

Flash Video Downloader is a free Windows program that downloads videos from the Internet and saves them on your computer.

To install the program, download the installer file and double-click it to run the Windows Setup Wizard, which guides you through the configuration and adds a user directory to your Documents library. You can choose to add a Flash Video Downloader icon to your Start screen, taskbar or desktop, and you can launch the program by selecting the Start screen tile or taskbar icon. You are then presented with the program's main user interface, which consists of a clean, uncluttered window with most of the program's controls easily accessible from the UI.

While Flash Video Downloader lets you save certain videos to your computer, it only works with the small percentage of videos that actually support downloading. Since a lot of websites prevent downloading their videos, you have to experiment a little to find compatible downloads. A lot of YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook videos are compatible with the program, but other Flash videos, such as Hulu and Crackle, are not. Some YouTube videos may only download halfway to prevent users from viewing videos without seeing advertisements. Unfortunately, there is no way around this barrier, and Flash Video Downloader does as good a job as others in saving compatible files.

Unlike many Web video downloaders, Flash Video Downloader installs on your desktop and includes a built-in Web browser for searching for videos to download. This setup may appeal to some users more than others, who may prefer a browser add-on instead of a standalone desktop program. Although Flash Video Downloader performs about as well as its competitors, it does not include any features that make it stand out. For example, it lacks a number of options such as compatibility with download accelerators and an editable source list. Parents should be aware that Flash Video Downloader supports many adult video sites and doesn't provide a way to block them from being downloaded.

For grown-ups installing this software on their own computers, Flash Video Downloader does make downloading files somewhat simpler than competing applications. After the initial configuration and video search, you can download FLV files in a single click. The software makers placed the focus on simplicity rather than configuration, so if you just want to quickly download a particular video, Flash Video Downloader lets you do that efficiently while tending to other tasks on your computer.

If you want to watch videos in the application interface, you can play them in the built-in video player. You can also queue up a playlist of several videos to play in a row using the built-in Web browser. While Flash Video Downloader lets you download videos, it doesn't convert them to other formats such, as AVI or H.264.

Pros

• Free
• Easy to set up
• Quick, simple controls

Cons

• Larger resource requirements than a browser add-on
• Lacks configuration settings