How to guide

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.

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.

A dialog opens:

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.

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:

• Manual search Here is everything you need to search for videos on a website and to download them.
• 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.
• Progress If videos are currently being downloaded or converted, you can see the progress here.
• Download finished Completely downloaded videos are listed here.

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

• 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

How it works:

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:

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.

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.

• No certificates and no proxy will be installed, so your system will not slow down
• Also finds videos not found by manual search
• Videos that require a login also have a better chance of being found here

• Promotional videos or small preview videos will also be found.

How it works:

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:

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.

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

• 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.

How it works:

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:

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.

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".

If Video Downloader Ultimate detects a playlist, you will find it in the results list.

• 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.

• 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.

Live streaming is a streaming media offering (video or audio) delivered in real-time. You can find them on YouTube, Twitch or TV stations like ZDF.

There is no end time, so you must specify the download duration. For some videos it is possible to specify a time in the past when you want to start downloading. The download itself needs real time, because the downloader has to wait for new content.