How to download streaming videos

Getting started!

(Video guide also available here)

Download VSO Downloader (free) and install and run it after installation.
Start by navigating to the page containing the video you want to download.
By default, the streaming monitoring is activated and a balloon hint will show in the tray as soon as the video is detected and ready to download. (you can disable these features in Options > Settings)

You should see something like this:

vso downloader main downloading


Then, if you want to rename the file, just press F2 after clicking on the file in the main window or right click it and select "Rename". When renaming, forget about the extension, just name your file and press enter: the extension will apply right away.

vso downloader renaming

Now you have got the file, you can either play it directly from VSO Downloader or open the output folder.
To play it, double click on it. It will play with the default media player.
To open the output folder, click on the file and press "Open" just above or right click on the file and select "Open folder"


There are two types of deletion:
If you want to get a clearer view of your download list and keep the complete files in the output folder right click on the file(s) and press "Delete". A pop-up will ask if you also want to delete the output file(s). Leave it unchecked (by default) and select "OK".
For a total deletion, check the box "and delete file(s) in output folder" after pressing "Delete".

vso downloader deletion


Note that you can select several files: keep pressing the mouse left button and drag over the files you want to select.




Settings

Click on Options > Settings. Here are displayed different categories as below:

vso downloader settings overview




"Notify events with balloon hints in tray": You will get a balloon hint each time a download is starting or complete.

vso downloader balloon hint



Monitor clipboard: Any URL you copy will be scanned in the downloader. Detected files (audio, video, etc.) will be available to download.

Monitor streaming: Media will be detected and downloaded right away as you navigate the web. It works as a real time detection.
Click on the button in the bottom left-hand corner of the main interface to activate/deactivate this feature:

vso downloader monitor streaming


Here you can choose your output folder. By default, the path is "C:/Users/[your_username]/Documents/VSO Downloader".

  • Accelerator
vso downloader accelerator
*Value may be limited by the file hoster

1: You can set the max number of simultaneous downloads. This is limited to 10.

This part is a bit more tricky:

2: Files will be chunked into several parts named "threads". The higher the value, the faster the download will be. But it will consume more CPU resources.

3: In order to improve download speed, files are split into multi custom parts. A smaller size boosts speed but increases CPU usage.

4: Memory amount allocated before file writing to disk begins. (Higher value will reduce file fragmentation and hard disk writing)
  • Retry

vso downloader retry



1: This is the number of maximum attempts at restarting the download after an error occurred.

2: The download will restart after this period of time.

3: Determine how long a file hoster can be unresponsive before displaying a socket timeout error.
  • Detection

Check the box if you want to download media as soon as it is detected.
Below the selected size, file will not be detected. Be careful not to set the value too low, lots of ads or unwanted contents may be detected. There is no absolute value so you must judge by yourself to adjust it to the best suited size.
  • Ad blocker

All content coming from these websites will not be detected or downloaded. Note that contrary to AdBlock Plus, VSO Downloader will not hide web ads, so no blank or empty spaces here. Ads will show in your browser but are ignored in the downloader.
You can edit the ads list by editing ads_filter.inc located here: C:/Program Files/VSO/VSO Downloader/1 (use NotePad to edit the file)
Beware: Currently we only support simple input method: symbols like *, # or $ will be ignored in the list. Stick to the basic thing, for instance: a.example.com or example.com/ads or example.com/logo.gif.


  • Filters

Checked file types will be detected. Here you can choose files you want the downloader to detect. Each format is associated with a mime and an extension.


  • Network adapter

Your network adapter will be detected at first start of VSO downloader. If you connect to a VPN while the Downloader is running, you must proceed with the detection again. Press "Auto detect", your new network adapter will be found.

  • Ports to monitor

Here are listed the different ports through data is transferred. The downloader will detect port forwarding if a proxy is activated and will add the port in the list automatically.