Downloading Flash Content from the Internet

Flash is one of the currently prevalent interactive media tool used for information-giving, advertising, entertainment and many more. It is also one of the most famous, perhaps only rivaled by the similarly potential Java application tool. Flash makes our Internet life attractive and flashy, all right. But supposed you've came across a flash media and fell in love with it. How do you save a Flash?

I often download Flash for education purpose and for self-entertainment. In my two years of computing experience, the best way to download Flash files actually depends on which two types of Internet Browser you are using. And i meant choosing between the current browser giants, Firefox and Internet Explorer. I have yet to see what other internet browsers can do in downloading Flash, but what i believe is that users mostly are using either Firefox or IE.

Remember though, that to view the saved Flash files on your PC, you must either have an application program called Macromedia Flash or Adobe Flash, or else the file will simply present itself as an unknown file, which you cannot open!

Use Macromedia Flash (above) or Adobe Flash (below) to view flash files. Both software works the same, because they are commercially affiliated...:)



How to download Flash files in Mozilla Firefox 3:

1. Go to the browser page which contains the Flash media (usually a banner) you would like to download.

2. On your Firefox Browser, navigate to the toolbar and select 'Tools'

3. Select 'Page Info'

4. On the 'Page Info' window, select 'Media'

5. You will see a box which lists all the addresses and their types of files on the particular page. Simply scroll down the list till you see an address with the type of file being 'embed' (often symbolize a .swf Flash file).


6. Simply highlight on the address and press the 'Save As' button below the address box. Choose your file path and that's it! You've saved the file!


How to download Flash File in Internet Explorer:

1. To download Flash file in IE, we require the assistance of a simple freeware program called 'Save Flash', an Internet Explorer add-on program. First, go to this page and download Save Flash.

2. After you downloaded the freeware, install it and follow the usual software-installing procedure. If you had IE opened during and after the installation, remember to restart your IE.

3. Now, navigate yourself to any website with the Flash file you want to download. Hover your mouse on the Flash file. Notice that a square button which depicts a diskette will appear on the upper left corner of the Flash file, which means the Flash file is readily available for download. Just press on the button to download the Flash and that's it!


I would encourage users to choose Firefox for downloading Flash files, because firstly, the Flash-saving features in Firefox are bundled free with the browser itself and therefore, its performance should be much reliable. Secondly, as far as i'm concerned, Save Flash is NOT a true freeware program, and you'll have to download and install it before you can use it, which makes first-time using rather troublesome compared to Firefox.

Another thing is, even though both methods generally work, be reminded that sometimes these Flash-downloading features are not all-powerful. It is a normal occasion to have both features downloaded a Flash file which works partially or don't even work at all. In such case, normally we can also contribute the reason to the scripting restrictions set on certain Flashes on the web.