Download a YouTube Video to Your Own PC

Al Roller asked how to copy and save a YouTube video to his own computer. A free program for doing this can be found at Youtubedownload.altervista.org. It's easy to use and offers various options as to which video format you'd like a download saved as.

However, while on this site, do NOT click on "To Improve Video and PC Performance, click here to run a free system scan."
    We have no personal experience with this particular link, but FREE SCAN OFFERS are notorious for saying you have all kinds of problems which can be fixed by buying a program they want to sell you. Worse yet, you may have already downloaded it when you clicked the FREE SCAN link, whereupon you're likely to be charged for removing the program (which has probably already installed spyware on your PC). AVOID FREE SCAN OFFERS!
Accessibility Options for Visually-challenged Users

Visually-challenged users have many resources available for improving on-screen legibility. Word processing is no problem, since font sizes can easily be enlarged. Of course, this also generates a larger paper printout. What's better is to increase the screen "zoom" view. In pre-2007 versions of Word, click on View>Zoom to make the adjustment. In Word 2007/2010 a Zoom Scale appears in the lower right corner of the page that can be easily adjusted.

The Internet Explorer 8 browser has a similar zoom adjustment in its lower right corner. If you use a mouse with a center scroll wheel, roll the wheel forward while pressing CTRL to increase the font size in other browsers and documents.

You can pick up extra screen space by temporarily hiding the Taskbar. Right-click it and choose Properties>Taskbar>Auto-hide the Taskbar. Now it will remain out of view until your cursor touches the lower edge of your screen, whereupon it will reappear for normal usage. Move the cursor away and the Taskbar will again disappear.

More legibility options can be found at Start>Programs>Accessories>Accessibility>Accessibility Wizard.

For instance, one choice is a full-width magnifier that will appear at the top of your screen. Grab the magnifier's bottom edge to increase its height. Now the magnifier will follow your mouse or other text-editing maneuvers to display everything at double its normal size.

Other Accessibility options let you choose super high-contrast color combinations and/or a larger cursor. Another option is "sticky keys" for folks who have trouble pressing two or more keys at once, (as in Ctrl+Alt+Delete). Press each key separately in succession to execute the desired command.

To make your icon labels larger, right-click the Desktop and choose Properties>Appearance>Font Size. To make the actual icons larger click on Effects>Use Large Icons.

© Donald Ray Edrington – All Rights Reserved

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Don Edrington - Computer Columnist for The Californian and San Diego's North County Times

Senior Computer Tutor
Don Edrington

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