Audio & video software forum: No Longer Able to Download Video from Internet

There are a number of issues here.

1] Why are you no longer able to download videos? You didn't say what happens now. Any error messages?

2] From which sites?

3] I am not sure what, "the video would download in real as an flv file" means. FLV is a video file type, and if the video held on the web site is available for download, it will download as an flv file, eg "filename.flv". Real Player should not be involved.

4] If Real Player does not play FLV files, then you need an FLV player, for example the VLC Media Player will play FLV videos. Google will help you find that.

5] Which browser are you using?

6] Are you sure these videos are available for download? Some sites, eg YouTube, hold the copyright for the videos uploaded to them, and they are not available for download.

7] What Real logo? Do you mean that any FLV files you already have on your computer have a Real icon? If so, you will need to re-associate the FLV files to whatever media software you normally use to watch them. Right click the file, select "Open with", then select "Choose program". Make sure the option to "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" is selected.

I hope that helps, and tell us more about this problem.

Mark

Another question for you, just to be sure we are talking about the same thing.

When you say you can't 'download' videos, do you mean you cannot download the videos from the web site(s) to save onto your hard drive, to watch later? Or do you mean you cannot watch them from within the Internet Browser itself, from the web site?

Often users confuse watching a video directly from the web page, (streaming video), with downloading a video file to the computer, saving it to the hard drive, so it can be viewed at a later stage.

This is what I found.

1] I was able to watch videos from both web sites, (http://www.moneyshow.com and http://www.zacks.com). But neither site allowed me to download the videos to save them onto my hard disk.

2] I used two different browsers, IE7 and Firefox, and they both showed the videos without problem.

3] In moneyshow.com the videos were displayed using the JW FLV Media Player. In IE my Security settings kept asking me if I wanted to allow ActiveX. These are Internet Explorer components that are downloaded and installed by web sites to allow the user to interact fully with those web sites. ActiveX can either be signed, (generally safe), or unsigned, (safety is not guaranteed), and can be blocked, allowed, or prompted to allow in IE Tools > Internet Options > Security tab, then the IE Globe Custom settings button. In my own IE I have blocked all unsigned ActiveX, but set for prompting for any signed ActiveX, hence the prompt I received to allow ActiveX. I had to allow them to see the videos.

In zacks.com the videos are played in something called etvmedia, also an FLV Media Player, but I also had to allow ActiveX.

It may be that your IE Security settings are now set too high to allow any ActiveX, so perhaps you an check those.

I note from zacks.com that their videos are available at YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/user/ZacksInvestmentNews

In Firefox there were no such prompts.

4] In IE, if you are on the page where any particular video is supposed to be displayed, you may see an option to "Download the FLV player". If not, right click the video area to see what options you have. For example I was able to select "About FLV Player", and a small page opened up asking if I wanted to download the player's browser plugin. I didn't go any further as the videos worked for me.

5] I didn't see any Real logos when playing these videos, so I am not sure why you are seeing those. I must admit I am unsure of why that is.

Does any of that help?

Mark

Did you figure out what's going on with your player and why that pop up doesn't come up anymore? the one that says....download this video?
stupid thing geeeeeze this friggin windows media player is giving me problems over and over....anyway if you figured out what went wrong i sure would appreciate some help

I understand exactly what Oddessus is speaking of. Previously, when I went to a site where there was a download available, if I moved my cursor over the video, I got a pop-up option to "download this video". When chosen, it would download with whatever file extention format the video was and when I clicked it on my Windows Explorer, it would play with the default player for that file extention (as long as I had not reassociated the file extention with a different player). I am in the same boat because I no longer receive that download option pop-up. I think it is something that was reset either in IE Explorer or my OS, which is Windows XP Pro. My feeling is that this was done via updates or whatever that reset the internet options and I haven't been able to determine area should be enabled, disabled or set to prompt. I have been trying to find a solution for this for a long time. So far, I have NOT been able to resolve the problem. It sure is frustrating!

Mark, in response to whether the sites have been contacted, I have done so. I have either received no response from them or have been told it has nothing to do with the sites, but must be a setting in my IE or OS.

I have spent hours researching and making changes one at a time to IE, then testing, without any positive results. I will say this ... while on a friend's computer, I went to one of the sites that gave me the pop-up before on my home computer and THERE IT WAS, so from that I have to assume it is something with my computer.

Thanks for your input.

Trisha

I went to this site here and downloaded realplayer again...........works great......

http://www.real.com/


download the free version

This problem all started last night when I made the mistake of responding to one of those invitations for an 'update" to Real Player (which of course had been downloading and saving videos for me just fine.) Now I don't get the option to download while viewing a video. I downloaded the free Real Player again and it still doesn't work. What to do?

1- go to tools
2- Manage Add-ons
3- Select first opttion " Tools Bar and Extension"
Scroll down till you locate section for
Name RealPlayer Download and Record Plugin for Internet Explorer
Publisher RealNetworks, Inc.

In the status, make sure it is enabled
Status Enabled

While I wrote my post, there appeared a post above that said you had to need real player to get it. And I don't have installed that. Apparently you don't have either.

Kees

Lat night, I was tempted to install IE No.8 add-on. When I found it no good, I uninstalled it and went back to old IE7. When I looked some videos, the "Download this video" button no longer appear. I tried the same videos that I downloaded before, the button is still missing. I checked the Plugin updates of the Real Player, I checked the IE tool "add-on" enables, all are fine. But the button still does not appear. Someone can tell me what I can do?

At the same time that the "download this video" disappeared, the ability to click on a code in sites like photobucket and have it copied when you click it stopped working. Photobucket made an announcement that it was due to a problem with an IE update or flash or something ... can't remember exactly, but said they were working on the compatibility. I can see the possibility of real player needing to be installed on the videos, but not on the copy feature on sites like Photobucket. It is very interesting that these TWO things stopped working at exactly the same time.

Trisha

I went to the real player download site that KATE... referenced. It works!

A recent version of either Firefox or Real Player has caused my "download this video" button to be missing in the Vista "User" mode.

Here are some observations:
1. downloading and re-installing Real Player made no difference.
2. turning off the UAC made no difference.
3. the button is not missing with Firefox in the "Administrator" mode.
4. the button is not missing with Windows Explorer in either the "User" or the "Administrator" mode.

I haven't done anything with the Registry Editor.

ft

Your suggestion to reinstall Rael Player worked for awhiloe. Now I can't do it again. I have uninstalled ad reinstalled real player from the site you referenced, but can't get the download button. Any ideas?

THIS HAPPENED TO ME. AFTER TRYING LOTS, I WENT INTO SYSTEM RESTORE, BACK THREE WEEKS AND HEY PRESTO, ALL NOW IS OK . ALL I HAD DONE A FEW DAYS AGO WAS A "DISC CLEAN UP" . WHETHER THIS HAD CAUSED IT I DONT KNOW. WORTH TRYING.