Getting the program ready for use

There is one important thing in the configuration of the program. It is the selection of the network adapter to sniff. You should specify this parameter correctly for the program to be able to intercept the addresses of the movie clips you would like to record.

It is extremely easy to do it. Open the Options dialog box and select the Network tab. Here you can see the drop-down list with detected network adapters and 2 buttons for convenient configuration. Try clicking the Autodetect button first. The program can correctly detect the adapter to sniff in most cases. The most important thing is that you have to be connected to the Internet and our program must have access through the firewall.

If the program fails to detect the adaptor automatically for some reason, you can specify it manually. It is quite easy. Select one of the adaptors from the list and click the Test Adaptor button. In case the selection is successful, you will see the corresponding message. If you get an error message, repeat the operation for another adaptor from the list.

All other settings of the program are clear and intuitive enough. You should pay attention to one parameter only - Autorecording on the Recordings tab. If you allow the program to record broadcasts automatically, it will save all intercepted clips. Besides, the program will start recording right after it detects a stream. In case you disable automatic recording, the program will pause the stream it detects and you will be able to decide later whether it should be recorded or not.

How to record a Windows Media stream

The program can record Live & On-demand Windows Media streams. If you correctly configure the program, you will not have to perform any additional operations. Just find the clip or radio broadcast you need, view it as you usually do it and that is all! The recorder will automatically detect the address of the stream and start recording it. A sound and/or a system tray notification (depending on the settings) will inform you that a stream has been detected.

The program will also notify you in case of a successful record or an error. In case of a successful record, you can play the recorded file and also rename it the way you like. If an error occurs, you can send a message to the developers, probably you have found a server the program cannot work with so far. Your message will allow us to improve the recorder and cover the maximum possible number of multimedia servers. You can do it all in the Current Recordings window. Just use your mouse to select the necessary line in the list of current records and click the button of the corresponding operation on the toolbar.

How to record a Shoutcast/Icecast stream

The operation of recording Shoutcast/Icecast streams is easy and virtually identical to recording Windows Media streams. You start listening to a radio broadcast, the recorder detects the source of the broadcast and starts recording it.

Shoutcast/Icecast radio broadcasts are organized in such a way that it is possible to rip the stream into tracks automatically. This way you can get a set of tracks out of a long radio broadcast.
Attention! It will be possible to cut a stream into tracks in the next version of the program.

How to record YouTube, GoogleVideo and other streams

Despite different formats and technologies used to play streams, we did it for your convenience so that you do not have to think what stream you are recording. So, no matter if it is YouTube or GoogleVideo, you just open the page with the movie clip in the browser, the recorder intercepts the address of the stream and starts recording it. Streams that are recorded from YouTube, GoogleVideo and similar sites are saved in the Flash Movie format and can be viewed in any Flash Movie player. A free player is distributed together with our program and you can use it to view the saved Flash Movie clips. Just select a saved stream in Current Recordings or in History and click the Play button on the toolbar.

Attention! If you find a site similar to YouTube, but our recorder cannot record streams from it, it means that we do not know about it so far. Send a message about it to the support service (support@sytexis.com) and we will try to solve this problem as soon as possible.

How to run it correctly with Windows Vista

Recorder need to be run as administrator in order to function properly (detect network card(s).

All shortcuts in Windows Vista have a special property that you can set that will allow the application to run as Administrator.

To set this property, just right-click on recorder shortcut, and click the Advanced button on the Shortcut page to get to the Advanced Properties dialog. By default shortcut to Web Stream Recorder can be found with clicking Start button and then Programs, Sytexis Software, Web Stream Recorder Pro.

You'll see a dialog with a checkbox for "Run as administrator".

From now on, the application will always run as administrator if you use the shortcut to launch it. (You'll be prompted by UAC if you have it enabled).