Is there a decent youtube downloader?

[helmut85]

Remember Laura Nyro.

[cmpm]

If a Firefox plugin does not work or doesn't do what you want it to,
uninstall it or disable it.
Having multiple download managers in Firefox will be trouble, no doubt.

I think you need to more familiar with Firefox to determine it's usefulness.

NetVideoHunter Video Downloader for FF

Has "best available" option, but doesn't seem to be updated frequently enough (people on the respective mozilla page say it didn't download the majority of YT videos for many months; or then has problems with newer FF versions?

Frequent updates or lack of them don't bother me if it works.
The comments are reliable to a point, that point being overall ratings and tips for operations.
And my own experience with the add-on.

I hope you find something that works for you.

[helmut85]

Remember Laura Nyro.

[tomos]

I dont know what the competition is like but I use clipconverter (http://www.clipconverter.cc/addon/ or www.clipconverter.cc) for the occasional download with FF and am quite happy with it. It offers addons for:

Install <strong>Firefox Addon</strong>
Install Firefox Addon
(Click 'Allow' at the top bar)

Install <strong>Chrome Addon</strong>
Install Chrome Addon
(See below how to install)

Install <strong>Safari Addon</strong>
Install Safari Addon
(Click 'Open' and 'Install')

Install <strong>Opera Addon</strong>
Install Opera Addon
(Click 'OK' and 'Install')

[4wd]

Something for you to play with: FirefoxPortable.7z (Right-click->Save as...) (NLA)

Just extract and run the FirefoxPortable.exe, all I've done is:

• made sure it's always in Private Browsing mode, (all history/cache/cookies/cake/etc is cleared on exit),
• made sure disc cache is disabled, (it uses 50MB of RAM as cache),
• added BYTubeD and DTA! and configured them.

You might get a couple of tabs open asking if you want to install the Java Quick Starter and Microsoft .NET Framework Assistant - your choice as to what you do but No is preferable.

So, in theory, it'll only ever use about 65MB of disc space for the executable folder plus whatever you download into wherever you download it.

To uninstall: Delete the folder.

It also has a nice homepage.

BTW, concerning your "lost space" problem, check for the following folders:
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Mozilla
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Local Settings\Application Data\Mozilla

If you don't have Firefox, (and possibly SeaMonkey), installed then you may safely delete those two folders.

FirefoxPortable will create them again when run, (FirefoxPortable only puts a few small files in them unlike a full Firefox installation), and delete them when it exits.

[Shades]

A downloadable archived copy of Firefox (from the www.portableapps.com website) is normally below 20MByte. This is the plain version, without any plugin/add-on.

I have been using this for almost 2 years now, and only because of the zotero plug-in (and actively using that for doing web-research) my Firefox setup claims 900MByte of room on my hard disk. Around 800MByte is zotero, the rest is Firefox and some other plugins/add-ons. Nowhere near as extreme as in your case.

If storage space is a concern to your setup , you might want to use cleanup tools. Assuming you don´t already do this, I´ll mention that on the same portableapps website there is also a recent version of crapcleaner, which could help a lot in cleaning out the folders mentioned by 4wd.

This system works well in my Windows setup, where I replaced installed software for their portable version as much as possible.

[helmut85]

Remember Laura Nyro.

[TaoPhoenix]

My afterthought becoming: ... hence the incredible non-professionalism and the sharp colors of the relevant sw here. Otherwise, I'm accustomed to business sw, so the shock seeing vid download / converting sw in action was a heavy one.

-helmut85 (January 05, 2013, 05:23 PM)

Hi Helmut,

I'll say that for what is ultimately a "small amount of dev dollars" there really are gaps in the Utility category of software. I bet it's not the answer you need but it's sounding like you're close to needing to commission something to put in the special features you want.

[Shades]

There are quite a lot of ools that help analyze where the space on your storage device goes. However, the one I like best is called Spacesniffer, which is both free and portable.

The reason why is simle, it is mainly because of the concept behind its interface (blocks associated with files and folders that are sized differently to represent the size of storage space they consume).

[4wd]

As for FF portable, you, 4wd, spoke about that version from the beginning; I have to admit I didn't "get" this in time and installed the normal version, but of course, a cache of 50 MB or suche doesn't explain my loss of space.

-helmut85 (January 08, 2013, 07:05 AM)

A default full installation of Firefox sets the disc based cache at 1024MB, (the same as IE seems to be whenever I've done a new install), this is about 950MB too much AFAIAC.

FirefoxPortable has the disc cache set at 0MB, (but not fully disabled), by default.

What I believe Shades is talking about is the Profile folder which contains more permanent data, eg. bookmarks, passwords, addon data, etc.

The FirefoxPortable link I put in above. (on my server), differs from the official one in the points I mention previously - the folder shouldn't get any larger unless you install more addons.

BTW, the homepage I added when it's run is instructions on using BYTubeD with DTA!, (with pictures).

[helmut85]

Remember Laura Nyro.

[ewemoa]

However, the one I like best is called Spacesniffer, which is both free and portable.

-Shades (January 08, 2013, 08:34 AM)

Hurray for SpaceSniffer 

[mouser]

I used clipconverter (http://www.clipconverter.cc) today without issue -- nothing to install, handles the process online.

[40hz]

I've found the FlashGot extension running under FF (in conjunction with the DownThemAll download manager for some extra capabilities) has yet to fail me grabbing a YouTube (or Vimeo) video. It's all running locally (and AFAIK transparently to the hosting site) so nobody is aware of the fact you're saving. Big plus since some sites will truncate a feed if they detect some of the better known download tools in operation.

[Shades]

Get the youtubecenter plugin, that will add greatly to youtube configuration possibilities (you can actually store and import your favorite settings with a file. Get an idea of where the Flash player stores temp files (hint: it does this in a folder that appears to be empty, but it really isn't) and use a tool called 'Shadowcopy' to copy the content to a location of your choosing.

YoutubeCenter allows you to disable the partial loading/partial playing setting that Youtube uses by default. With that disabled Youtube reverts back to completely downloading the whole video. Shadowcopy allows for copying files that are in use by the system and/or application(s).

Works like a charm (and not only for youtube).

[40hz]

Get the youtubecenter plugin,

-Shades (June 23, 2014, 06:39 PM)

I have it installed in FF 28.0. It doesn't seem to be there however. How do you use it?

[Curt]

One user is talking about the included features already being standard in Firefox 30.

----------

YouTube Center is not really in the browser, but on YT's homepages:

--------------------------
The YouTube front page. A cog button is added to the right of the blue "sign in" button and when the cog button is clicked the YouTube Center settings panel will appear.

--------------------------
The YouTube Center settings

--------------------------
A YouTube video with YouTube Center activated. The player is stopped and a preview is display until the player is clicked on. This is because the setting: prevent auto buffering is enabled. The player fills out, because the player size: "Fit To Content" has been selected

[Giampy]

Remember Laura Nyro.

-helmut85 (January 05, 2013, 06:50 AM)

Why that repeated phrase?

[Chessnia]

Interesting read. I thought everyone was using the "Download helper" add-on for firefox (Nearly 6 million users!).  Completely free, lets you choose which version of the video to download and many extra features.