FAQ for Windows

Since VDU is not a browser extension but a Windows program, it must be started when you want to download videos. To do this, click the blue arrow symbol on your desktop or in the Windows start menu. The VDU main dialog opens. To make it faster next time, you can right-click the taskbar icon after VDU has started and select "Pin to taskbar". When you want to start VDU again, just click the blue arrow icon in the taskbar.

1. After installation, VDU is in trial mode, i.e. many functions are not available and the download is limited to 30 seconds. With your activation code, which you received by e-mail, you can activate your purchased version. To do this, click on the red text "Trial version" in the dialog. If this text is not there, your version is already activated.
2. Enter your activation code and the e-mail address where the code was sent. Then press OK. The red trial version text disappears and VDU is activated.

1. When you start VDU the main dialog appears. At the top right is an icon for displaying the menu . Among other things, there is a red/green slider for switching the automatic search on/off. The gear icon opens the settings dialog. To the left of this there is a bar with tabs that toggle the view below:
2. Manual search Here is everything you need to search for videos on a website and to download them.
3. Browser Here you find an embedded internet browser based on Microsoft Edge. All websites loaded here are automatically searched for videos. Search results The search results of the automatic search are displayed here.
4. Progress If videos are currently being downloaded or converted, you can see the progress here.
5. Download finished Completely downloaded videos are listed here.

1. Manual search downloads a web page and scans it for downloadable videos. Most videos are available in different resolutions, formats or languages. A download button is displayed for each in the result list. There are also convert buttons that convert the video directly after downloading, e.g. to MP3 or MP4. Manual search is sufficient for most websites. Advantages: only needs resources if you really want to search for a video also finds videos and formats that are not currently playing does not interfere with the system: no proxy is installed Disadvantages: when a website calculates video addresses dynamically, the videos are often not found if a website shows different videos every time, not the same videos will be found as in the browser if a login is requested, in many cases the manual search cannot use the login data from the browser
2. Open your video site in the browser. Then click on "URL from browser" and the address of the page from the last opened browser will be automatically fetched and entered into the address field. If that didn't work, you can type or copy the address into the field yourself. Then click "Scan site". It takes a few seconds and then the search results appear:
3. Click the download button with the desired format and then enter a file name. The download starts. There are videos where video and audio are downloaded separately. The two files will then be automatically merged into one file after download. If you download a format containing the text "Video only" or "Audio only", then the target file will contain only audio or only video.

1. Video Downloader Ultimate includes an embedded internet browser based on Microsoft Edge. Websites that you load here are automatically searched for videos. This is the same as with the automatic search, but no certificates or proxy need to be installed on your system. As with the automatic search, the search results are displayed under the Search results tab.
2. No certificates and no proxy will be installed, so your system will not slow down
3. Also finds videos not found by manual search
4. Videos that require a login also have a better chance of being found here
5. Promotional videos or small preview videos will also be found.
6. Open your video page in the embedded browser and play a video. It takes a few seconds and then the search results appear under the appropriate tab:

1. The automatic search constantly searches your internet data for video addresses, i.e. when a website loads a video, the address is intercepted and offered for download. A so-called proxy is installed for this purpose. This is a module between the browser and the Internet. Advantages: Only what the browser is currently playing will be offered for download There are websites where only the automatic search finds videos Videos that require a login also have a better chance of being found with the automatic search Disadvantages: While the proxy is running, your internet connection will be slower as all data is searched for video addresses Some websites, e-mail programs and other Windows programs do not work if the internet connection runs through a proxy. Promotional videos or small preview videos will also be found. Due to the disadvantages, we recommend using the embedded browser if manual search does not provide the desired results. Only if you absolutely want to use a specific browser, turn on automatic search temporarily when you want to download a video and then off again. Note that the automatic search must already be active before the video page is loaded.
2. Switch on the automatic search with the red slider in the menu. Open your video site in the browser and play a video. It takes a few seconds and then the search results appear under the appropriate tab:
3. Click the download button with the desired format and then enter a file name. The download starts. There are videos where video and audio are downloaded separately. The two files will then be automatically merged into one file after download. If you download a format containing the text "Video only" or "Audio only", then the target file will contain only audio or only video.

There are only a few websites where you can download MP3 files directly, e.g. https://www.soundtaxi.com . When playing an MP3 file, automatic search will recognize it and display a yellow download button. MP3 files are much smaller than video files. So make sure the "Only find video files smaller than xxx KB" setting isn't too large. 200 KB should be a good value for MP3 files. It is also possible that MP3 files are not displayed directly due to their size, but that there is only the note "Show 4 additional formats". Click on it to view all. The other option is to download a music video, for example from YouTube, and convert it to MP3. Instead of selecting a format, please click the yellow "convert to MP3" button. If possible, only the audio stream is downloaded and converted to MP3.

1. Play a YouTube video that is part of a playlist in your browser. Open Manual Search in Video Downloader Ultimate and click "URL from browser". The address is transferred to the address field. Now click "Scan site".
2. If Video Downloader Ultimate detects a playlist, you will find it in the results list.
3. Click one of the green buttons to download all the videos in the playlist in the specified resolution. The download takes some time. Each video in the list will now be automatically scanned and then downloaded.
4. Or click View Playlist to view content and download individual videos: Click "Scan" of the video you want to download. It takes a few seconds and the available formats will be displayed. Now click one of the green or pink buttons to download the video.

Direct links for support and downloads:

• Contact form
• Downloads

If you already have an activation code, you can download the installer .

• Installer

Yes, you can download a free trial version of Video Downloader Ultimate here .

• Free trial

You can install the Pro version on up 3 PCs ( Premium version on up to 6 PCs) and these versions of Video Downloader Ultimate have some unique features not available in the Standard version. Please check out the comparison chart on the purchase page .

• Pricing and editions

As long as the website uses the HTTP protocol, usually you can download videos from there. Unfortunately, it happens that websites use special mechanisms to prevent that. The following pages are recommended by us: • youtube.com • dailymotion.com • screen.yahoo.com • vimeo.com • ardmediathek.de • zdf.de/ZDFmediathek Of course, you can download videos from adult sites e.g. • xHamster • xVideos • Youjizz and other popular adult sites

• youtube.com
• dailymotion.com
• screen.yahoo.com
• vimeo.com
• ardmediathek.de
• zdf.de/ZDFmediathek
• xHamster guide
• xVideos guide
• Youjizz guide

Provider of paid videos ( e.g. Netflix, Prime video) most likely protect their videos e.g. by encryption. These videos cannot be downloaded. The only way to save them to your hard disc is to capture them while they are playing in the browser. To do this you need a capture software like Video Capture Ultimate which is also contained in the premium version of Video Downloader Ultimate.

• Video Capture Ultimate

If while browsing YouTube you find a video that you want to download in order to e.g., watch it again offline later or to enhance your video collection on your PC, we ask you to read first YouTube’s Terms of Service . Please also bear in mind that downloading copyrighted YouTube or any other copyrighted videos might not be legal if you didn’t get the permission from the content owner. So please always make sure that the video you would like to download belongs to the public domain, or that the copyright owner has given the permission to download the work.

• YouTube Terms of Service

When Video Downloader Ultimate runs as a Windows application, it is able to detect videos loaded from any browser running on the system. It can use advanced techniques to detect video streams, that are split into multiple files e.g. DASH format and merge them while downloading. In addition we are able to convert downloaded content to a different output format • Support split video files • Support DASH format • Convert to MP3 and MP4 • Enable youtube download with browsers that do not allow this within Add-Ons

• DASH format (Wikipedia)

Yes, in this case you can buy an upgrade to the Pro or Premium oversion. In addition to the additional functions, you also get 3 or 6 licenses at once.

• Upgrade pricing

Video Downloader Ultimate is a windows program for all browsers. If you mean a Chrome web extension this is called Video Downloader Professional and can be downloaded from the Chrome web store.

• Video Downloader Professional (Chrome Web Store)

As of the end of October 2022, Chrome will no longer use the certificates that are installed on Windows by default, but will only use its own. This leads to the above error message if automatic search is activated in Video Downloader Ultimate. The following solutions are possible: • Switch off the automatic search in Video Downloader Ultimate and use the manual search or the integrated browser to download videos (from Video Downloader Ultimate Version 1.0.1.196). • Or continue to use the Windows certificates in Chrome: • Start Chrome as follows: Press [Win]+[R] and then enter this line: chrome --disable-features=ChromeRootStoreUsed • Alternatively, advanced users can make the following entry in the registry so that Chrome always uses the Windows certificates: [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Google\Chrome] "ChromeRootStoreEnabled"=dword:00000000 • Or ask our support for more help

The problem is, that TLS 1.2 which is forced by the latest Chrome is disabled in Windows 7 by default and VideoDownloaderUltimate is using Windows functions to communicate withthe browser. If TLS 1.2 is not enabledChrome shows this error message. To solve this problem 2 steps are necessary: 1) Make sure Windows 7 has the update KB3140245. You can verify and force it in Windows control panel or you could start this update manually by downloading it from this Microsoft site: https://www.catalog.update.microsoft.com/search.aspx?q=kb3140245 2) 2 registry entries are needed: Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Internet Settings\WinHttp] "DefaultSecureProtocols"=dword:00000800 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\SecurityProviders\SCHANNEL\Protocols\TLS 1.2\Server] "DisabledByDefault"=dword:0 "Enabled"=dword:1 If you are familiar with regedit.exe you could add them manually, or you can download and start this small reg file which will add these keys into the registry. After adding these keys reboot your system and the problem is solved.

• Windows update KB3140245
• TLS 1.2 fix (reg file)

This happens for instance on thesite containing the downloaded videos if the site cannot connect to VideoDownloaderUltimate. Causes may be the following: • videodownloaderultimate.exe is ended or crashed. Try this: • Restart videodownloaderultimate.exe. • An ad-blocker installed in the browser prevents the connection between the website and videodownloaderultimate.exe. Try this: • Deactivate the ad-blocker in your browser. • Use Video Downloader Ultimate with another browser, where no ad-blocker is installed, e.g. Edge or InternetExplorer • Create an exception rule in the ad-blocker settings for videodownloaderultimate.com. • A anti virus software installed on your system prevents the connection between the website and videodownloaderultimate.exe. Try this: • Create an exception rule in your anti-virus program for videodownloaderultimate.exe • The portnumber of videodownloaderultimate has been changed after a restart. Try this: • Close the site containing the downloaded videos and reopen it by the menu of videodownloaderultimate.exe

Please note, that some videos may be of a format not supported by the application you use for playback. In such case you can download a tool like VLC mediaplayer to check and playback your downloaded videos.

• VLC Media Player

Microsoft has discontinued the support for Windows XP, which means that innovations on web pages are no longer supported. Specifically, from sites using the https protocol with new certificates, e.g. Youtube, you cannot download videos under Windows XP.

After installing apple quicktime on your machine most videos should play fine in Safari. Please note, that some videos may be of a format not supported by quicktime. In such case you can use a tool like VLC mediaplayer to check and playback your downloaded videos.

• Apple QuickTime
• VLC Media Player

This happens when the key was already used on another PC. Please contact our support.

VDU is installed as proxy to find the watched video URLs. Theoretically, it is conceivable that this caused the lost of the internet access. If this happens, simply start videodownloaderultimate.exe again. If that does not help, you can disable the proxy manually as follows: - Start Internet Explorer (even if you otherwise use a different browser) - Enter the menu Tools->Internet Options - Click Connections - Click on Lan settings - Disable the checkbox under proxy server

Maybe you have downloaded a defective or incompatible video. When Windows tries to create a thumbnail, it happens that the memory usage of the corresponding process continues growing up caused by an error in Windows. Then proceed as follows: - Start the Task Manager (right click on an empty area of the taskbar) - Stop the process dllhost.exe - Delete the last downloaded video

• Support E-Mail
• Contact form

VDU works with Windows 10, Windows 11 and newer and with macOS Big Sur (11) and newer

We recommend a fast internet connection to download the videos