Badly need help with saving WMV stream

[jimtester@nomail.com]

I think I have spent 3 full days trying to save these online Media
Player streams. I thought it would be easy to copy it from my IE
cache file. I found the files wnding with .DAT. They do not play in
Media Player. I am using Media Player 9 on Win98se.

I thought I could use Firefox and possibly save them as a FLV. I
forgot Firefox does not even recognise or play Media Player files.
Opera does not recognise the either.

I googled and read many websites. I downloaded and tried a thing
called VLC Media Player. That program is way over my head as far as
understanding it, and about all it did was steal my file associations
from Winamp for audio files. I finally removed it. I tried a few
other freeware and shareware programs. None did anything.

The files play just fine online. I am on dialup, so it takes a few
minutes to download, then it plays just fine in Media Player.

However, I am trying to save them to my own computer in either WMV or
FLV format (or even an AVI). Media Player has no "Save" option. None
of these other programs I downloaded worked. I saved those .DAT files
and tried to save the HTML page and load it from the saved page. That
dont work either. I'm at a point I no longer have any idea what to do
or try anymore.

Can any of you help?
Here is the URL for one of the files I am trying to save. This
website is a nearby TV station's site.
http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7564904

Click on the little purple camera icon next to the words "Rotary
Lights Season Comes to an End". The video will load in a Media Player
screen embedded in a Webpage. First there will be a 15 second
commercial for a RV company, then the actual video will appear and
play, followed up by a screen for the TV station. (Total 3 videos,
thus 3 .DAT files in the cache. The large 2+ gig file is the desired
one ot save, but it needs to be converted to a usable format, or the
file just saved from the stream.

Like I said, I have completely run out of ideas what to try, and none
of these downloads that claim to capture files of this sort seem to
work, or are far too complicated as is that VLC. There's go to be
some way to do this, but how? Normally I can "hack" my way thru stuff
like this, but not this time. Video seems to be one of the most
confusing media available to the PC.

I would like to save files from this tv station from time to time.
Can anyone please assist !!!

Thanks

Jim T.

PS. Most of the stories in that website have the same kind of videos,
in case you want to look at others. All of them seem to load using
javascript.

 

[Don Phillipson]

<jimtester@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:rttrn35vrg2p922453j238bitdht6qru2g@4ax.com...

> I think I have spent 3 full days trying to save these online Media
> Player streams. I thought it would be easy to copy it from my IE
> cache file. I found the files wnding with .DAT. They do not play in
> Media Player. I am using Media Player 9 on Win98se. . . .
>
> However, I am trying to save them to my own computer in either WMV or
> FLV format (or even an AVI). Media Player has no "Save" option.

You need to instal either video or audio "editing" software
that can both store the material you download and then
write to disc a file in a format you can play back. I do no
video work but for music etc. I use Magix Audio Cleaner,
which can save in WAV or OGG format and can write
files as WAV, OGG or MP3. It cost roughly $50 and for
my purposes was a bargain.

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

 

[Rick Chauvin]

<jimtester@nomail.com> wrote in message
news:rttrn35vrg2p922453j238bitdht6qru2g@4ax.com
> I think I have spent 3 full days trying to save these online Media
> Player streams. I thought it would be easy to copy it from my IE
> cache file. I found the files wnding with .DAT. They do not play in
> Media Player. I am using Media Player 9 on Win98se.

First of all the are not a wmv stream, and it's not the dat files you
want from there, but the original flv files which they use themselves.

With WKBT it's also harder to cop the direct link to the flv's themselves
to specifically' like youtube, etc, to be able to direct download them with
software - by the way WKBT has their activex setup, but there are other
ways around that to at least get the video file itself, although it's a
two-step process and then copy/paste our of the real tmp to do it.

> I thought I could use Firefox and possibly save them as a FLV. I

You don't need to do anything extra to save them as flv because they are
already flv files!

> forgot Firefox does not even recognise or play Media Player files.
> Opera does not recognise the either.
>
> I googled and read many websites. I downloaded and tried a thing
> called VLC Media Player. That program is way over my head as far as
> understanding it, and about all it did was steal my file associations
> from Winamp for audio files. I finally removed it. I tried a few
> other freeware and shareware programs. None did anything.

Actually a sidenote is that VLC is quite a usable player for flv files.
However always use the StandAlone (non-install) version of it, and so that
way there is no installing it, and when you want to open a specific video
file like flv that your Windows Media Players wont open, just drop the flv
file into the shortcut of the players location and it plays fine. It does
not steal or do anything to other file associations when using the
non-install version. VLC is quite a unique player that has valuable
features like FLV, and you only need to use it for the one file if you
want, which is all I use it for, easy to use. I have and use every single
player there is, so I'm not touting that one player over another is better
because they are all unique in there own way, but since you mentioned this
vlc, I wanted to clarify it's not the players fault but your understanding
of which one and how to use it properly (standalone version)
...fyi, direct download link to standalone vlc player is:
http://downloads.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.8.6d/win32/vlc-0.8.6d-win32.zip
Unzip this file and just save the folder somewhere, but shortcut the file
within it named vlc.exe to your Desktop or 'Send To' folder, or wherever,
so that when you have an flv file you can just drop it into the shortcut or
'Send To' and it plays it - with no installing anything! it's that simple.

> The files play just fine online. I am on dialup, so it takes a few
> minutes to download, then it plays just fine in Media Player.

Yep

> However, I am trying to save them to my own computer in either WMV or
> FLV format (or even an AVI). Media Player has no "Save" option. None

The flv file can be converted to other files, but why bother since it comes
flv right from WKBT to begin with!

> of these other programs I downloaded worked. I saved those .DAT files
> and tried to save the HTML page and load it from the saved page. That
> dont work either. I'm at a point I no longer have any idea what to do
> or try anymore.

Forget the dat file idea. This is how you find where the flv file is:
After you listen to a video at that site, then navagate your computers:
Start> Find> File and Folders> (and copy/paste this line Below into the
"Look In" entry there, and press Search:
C:\WINDOWS\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files

...then open that search box contents full screen so you can click the
Size or Type column button 'to organize all contents accordingly' making it
easier for you to find your item, which of course you Will See your flv
files in there - so then copy/paste them out of there to your Desktop or
wherever - then with that file you just need an flv player, and for flv I
like to use the non-install stand alone version of VLC where you just
drag/drop or 'send to' the flv file into vlc to play, and vlc makes No
Changes to your current setup at all.

> Can any of you help?
> Here is the URL for one of the files I am trying to save. This
> website is a nearby TV station's site.

I just tried what I've told you, and it's just as I said.
I can get and save locally, any file there in minutes.

> http://wkbt.com/Global/story.asp?S=7564904

> Click on the little purple camera icon next to the words "Rotary
> Lights Season Comes to an End". The video will load in a Media Player
> screen embedded in a Webpage. First there will be a 15 second
> commercial for a RV company, then the actual video will appear and
> play, followed up by a screen for the TV station. (Total 3 videos,
> thus 3 .DAT files in the cache. The large 2+ gig file is the desired

There are no 2+ gb files at your tv station downloads and all are at a
fraction of that at only a few mb, not gb's.
Again though forget the dat files.
Use the Find Files Folders with the copy/paste line I gave you above so you
can find the real tmp files location that shows the flv files are really
there already

Rick

ps, I typed this fast so forgive overlooks, or what I may have assumed you
knew about computers.



> one ot save, but it needs to be converted to a usable format, or the
> file just saved from the stream.
>
> Like I said, I have completely run out of ideas what to try, and none
> of these downloads that claim to capture files of this sort seem to
> work, or are far too complicated as is that VLC. There's go to be
> some way to do this, but how? Normally I can "hack" my way thru stuff
> like this, but not this time. Video seems to be one of the most
> confusing media available to the PC.
>
> I would like to save files from this tv station from time to time.
> Can anyone please assist !!!
>
> Thanks
>
> Jim T.
>
> PS. Most of the stories in that website have the same kind of videos,
> in case you want to look at others. All of them seem to load using
> javascript.

 

[moreton]

> Actually a sidenote is that VLC is quite a usable player for flv files.
> However always use the StandAlone (non-install) version of it, and so that
> way there is no installing it, and when you want to open a specific video
> file like flv that your Windows Media Players wont open, just drop the flv
> file into the shortcut of the players location and it plays fine. It does
> not steal or do anything to other file associations when using the
> non-install version. VLC is quite a unique player that has valuable
> features like FLV, and you only need to use it for the one file if you
> want, which is all I use it for, easy to use. I have and use every single
> player there is, so I'm not touting that one player over another is better
> because they are all unique in there own way, but since you mentioned this
> vlc, I wanted to clarify it's not the players fault but your understanding
> of which one and how to use it properly (standalone version)
> ...fyi, direct download link to standalone vlc player is:
> http://downloads.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/0.8.6d/win32/vlc-0.8.6d-win32.zip

just curious,,, as i myself downloaded that software couple of weeks ago,, (had forgotton about it
till i read your post) curious to why the link you gave is over 13mgs to d/l but the one i got
was/is just over 9mgs....? yet both seem to be named the same?
have i got the version that allows me to not instal it too.? if i havent got the non-instal
version, can mine be configured to act like that when i choose to put it on my computer?
vlc.0.8.6d-win32.exe

thanks.

 

[Rick Chauvin]

"moreton" <bay@bug.yum> wrote in message
news:OY5ZtjfUIHA.5208@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl
[...]
> just curious,,, as i myself downloaded that software couple of weeks
> ago,, (had forgotton about it till i read your post) curious to why the
> link you gave is over 13mgs to d/l but the one i got was/is just over
> 9mgs....? yet both seem to be named the same?

How can you say that since clearly they are not 'Named' the same at all,
the link I give is a zip file and when unzipped contains a folder full of
files which make up the program in a self-run non-install version of the
program, and the one you list as ..exe is just one file consisting of an
installer that installs the program and sets it's default options to your
computer.

> have i got the version that allows me to not instal it too.? if i

You said you had both right?

> havent got the non-instal version, can mine be configured to act like
> that when i choose to put it on my computer? vlc.0.8.6d-win32.exe

Well yes the installed version can be options set to act like the
non-install version, afterall they are the same program, it's just that the
installer assumes it's install on your computer, and the other doesn't
install but lets you use it manually..

Rick

ps, fwiw remember that 95/98/ME users might need to download The Microsoft
Layer for Unicode for Windows to support programs that would benefit from
it, and since VLC and other programs like eMule, etc, etc, may need MSLU to
completely function properly - one would want it but you can read about
that at their site ...just thought I'd mention it fwiw. Most 9x people
automatically have placed the MSLU files right along.

>
> thanks.

 

[moreton]

> > just curious,,, as i myself downloaded that software couple of weeks
> > ago,, (had forgotton about it till i read your post) curious to why the
> > link you gave is over 13mgs to d/l but the one i got was/is just over
> > 9mgs....? yet both seem to be named the same?
>
> How can you say that since clearly they are not 'Named' the same at all,
> the link I give is a zip file and when unzipped contains a folder full of
> files which make up the program in a self-run non-install version of the
> program, and the one you list as ..exe is just one file consisting of an
> installer that installs the program and sets it's default options to your
> computer.
>
> > have i got the version that allows me to not instal it too.? if i
>
> You said you had both right?

no, i dont have them both,,,, nearly did when i clicked on your link, and realised the ''dont
instal" version is/was actually 4mgs bigger than the instal version.... (this confuses me.)
why does the manual/non-instal version grow to be 4mgs larger?
also, the actual file name is the same, just that one is .exe and one is zipped,, but file is
the same at least, looks like it from here.
(i imagine that once un-zipped, there will be the same .exe inside....... yes?)

>
> > havent got the non-instal version, can mine be configured to act like
> > that when i choose to put it on my computer? vlc.0.8.6d-win32.exe
>
> Well yes the installed version can be options set to act like the
> non-install version, afterall they are the same program, it's just that the
> installer assumes it's install on your computer, and the other doesn't
> install but lets you use it manually..

so, is the bottom line that i can fire up my .exe that is sitting in a folder by itself, and
somewhere along the line of 'instal' tell it 'not' to instal but simply just be available if i wish
to call it?

thanks again.
>
> Rick
>
> ps, fwiw remember that 95/98/ME users might need to download The Microsoft
> Layer for Unicode for Windows to support programs that would benefit from
> it, and since VLC and other programs like eMule, etc, etc, may need MSLU to
> completely function properly - one would want it but you can read about
> that at their site ...just thought I'd mention it fwiw. Most 9x people
> automatically have placed the MSLU files right along.
>
> >
> > thanks.
>
>
>

 

[Rick Chauvin]

"moreton" <bay@bug.yum> wrote in message
news:%23BBgtOqUIHA.4280@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl
[...]

>> You said you had both right?
>
> no, i dont have them both,,,, nearly did when i clicked on your link,
> and realised the ''dont instal" version is/was actually 4mgs bigger than
> the instal version.... (this confuses me.)
> why does the manual/non-instal version grow to be 4mgs larger?

It's not a big deal really, it's just that non-install self-run programs
many times have more files within allowing themselves to be self-sufficient
without using OS files, whereas install versions can run in tandem with.

> here. (i imagine that once un-zipped, there will be the same .exe
> inside....... yes?)

No..

> so, is the bottom line that i can fire up my .exe that is sitting in a
> folder by itself, and somewhere along the line of 'instal' tell it
> 'not' to instal but simply just be available if i wish to call it?

No, and that's not what I meant...

Hands On of each you will learn your answers.

all the best,

Rick