Free FLV Converter ** Warning **

It's very easy to capture video's from Youtube using FireFox and the Flashgot add-on. Now we have a decent projector, I can use video clips, but playing .FLV's (Flash Video's) is not the easiest thing to to.  For personal use VLC is great, but these have to go on the secondary screen and the controls have to be somewhere else.  I wanted something to convert the FLV's to something more useful, something my projections software has a chance of playing.  I admit, this was the first thing I found.

It installed with a Toolbar "Dealio" - but this one insists on installing and doesn't give you the option not to.  OK, as soon as the install was finished, I uninstalled it.  I'm not sure if its a problem (malware) or not (google search results), but I don't want it simply because I am forced to have it.  Well OK, I want the free software, but there are other methods of supporting free software.  I downloaded it from CNET - a site I have come to trust, but one which I will be treating with much greater caution that previously.

Here's why:  Free FLV Converter (or was it Dealio) also installed a Browser Helper Object (BHO) called SearchSettings.dll and ApplicationUpdate.dll - which I can't find much on..I have Scotty keeping watch - nothing much gets past him.  Prevention is better than cure, so when he barked, I did not allow the change, and began to investigate.  The uninstalls seemed to remove the offending programs, but there will be a Spybot and Ad-Aware scan later - just to be certain.


Free FLV Converter itself is simple to use, here are some results for just one file. The source file size is 3237Kb:

To Type	File Size (Kb)	Windows Media Player	VLC
avi	6546	Video OK, no sound	Video and sound OK
mp4	10336	Video and sound OK	Video and sound OK
wmv	6886	Video OK, no sound	Video and sound OK

I have Windows Vista with all the latest updates from Microsoft.