How To Watch TV Online For FREE (any show or movie)
When it comes to watching TV online there are two options, streaming or downloading:
Streaming: is when you find a video and press play and watch it on the player provided by the hosting site (like when you press play on youtube videos). Streaming usually requires a little time for your video to buffer so this is a reasonable option if you have a good bit of band-width and RAM (for full-size movie files especially if your wanting to watch in HD). This is also a good option if you are not wanting to keep the file after you watch it. If you do want to keep the file, making it available to watch even when you don't have internet access, or if your system isn't quite up to the task of streaming or streaming in HD, then option 2 is probably better suited for you.
Downloading: this is when you download the video file from the hosting site or bit torrent client to your computers hard drive. Once the download is complete then you play the video file using a media player also downloaded on your hard drive, one of your choosing.
In order to download any video from nearly any site (except Hulu b/c no one to my knowledge has been able to crack that road block yet) there are a few options.
: NetVideoHunter is a Firefox Browser "add-on". Once you add this (only if you are using FF) then a new blue and white icon will be placed in your toolbar. Once you have started a video on any hosting site, press pause and then click that icon. A new small window will pop up displaying the links to all videos on that page. Next to each videos link there is a download button, click it and wa-la! Easy-peezy.
Realplayer: This is a freeware program that you download to your hard drive. It comes with a lot of other extras you can check out on their site linked to above. But in my opinion its best feature is the little tag that pops up in the top right hand corner of ALL playable videos on ANY site asking if you want to download this video. You just click the tag and your download begins. BUT if you use Firefox don't even try to use this. I haven't been able to get it to work at all in FF yet. If you use Chrome or Internet Explorer then this should be great. When downloading this program just make sure to UNCHECK the other option boxes you are given a choice of installing toward the end of the installing session. Unless you want other random stuff not pertaining to realplayer downloaded with it (excluding the extras it is supposed to come with like RP converter, etc, that will download with the player automatically). FF has issues with the RP plug-in and automatically disables it so if using FF go with the NetVideoHunter add-on.
Free Media Players: Now that you've downloaded your video you'll need to also download a media player in order to watch it. There are many free media players out there to chooose from but below I have listed a few of my personal favorites and why. Just click the icon to link to the download site for that player.
KMPlayer: This player plays mostly everything and plays it well. Plus it has the added option of being able to take "continuous screencaps" during the entire video, just a chosen portion or just a single screen grab of where ever you paused. This is especially useful for those of us who like to make animated gifs from videos and this is the only free media player I have been able to find that does continuous screencaps without a lot of headache.
Media Player Classic: This player comes with the Klite Codec Pack which if you haven't already you will also need to download. The codecs in this pack are needed in order to be able to watch most videos on your computer (esp. if you download them). I won't go into what codecs are but basically they are needed to automatically code/decode your video files for viewing. Click the link to be directed to the klite download. Once you have it, you will ALSO have MPC. This player doesn't take continuous screen shots (it does take single screen shots) but it does play literally everything and without you having to change the settings.
GOM Player: This player does its job and also has the capability of taking continuous screencaps but ONLY up to 999. That may seem like more than enough but anyone who makes animated gifs knows you can get up to 999 quickly. It also takes single screen grabs obviously. If your wondering why its not my #2 it's b/c it doesn't play EVERYTHING as well as MPC seems to but that may just be my opinion or my computer. If you use outside speakers make sure to change the volumn control in "settings" to those b/c otherwise the volumn on this player is not that high.
: This is a link site where you can find all your TV shows (past or present) for free.
Type your title into the search box and be directed to that shows page. There you will see the episodes listed by season.
Choose the episode you want and be directed to a page displaying external links to different hosting sites hosting that particular video file.
For free sites be sure and click the "All search Results" tab b/c the "Popular Search Results" tab which is automatically displayed by default only shows sites (like iTunes or Amazon) where you have to pay.
Once showing all search results scroll down until you find a site link you like and click it.
It will open up a new tab, press the play button and then another new tab will come up with your video.
Press play and then pause after it starts. Then either let the video buffer a little and then resume play or download it using one of the methods outlined in this tutorial. This site has the same links as the site below.
This site is only recommended for shows not movies.
: This is another link hosting site where you can find just about any TV show or movie ever created.
Just type your title in the search box (make sure your under shows for shows and movie for movies otherwise your title won't show up even if they have it).
Click your selection and once on that page choose a link to an external hosting site that will host your video file.
This is where you can choose to either "stream" or "download". Some hosting sites will allow you to download their videos just by pressing their "download" button (like uploadc or zalaa). But some sites (like putlocker or sockshare) will require paid membership in order to download their files (unless you cheat by using those free programs I listed above, this I highly advise :).
The links I recommend, if you are using one of those download any video for free programs, are: sockshare, putlocker or daclips.
If you are not looking to download or want to only use sites that allow downloading by default then I recommend: uploadc, zalaa, and stagevu.
Just understand that any site that uses the Divx web player (like stagevu) will take a little longer to buffer than others that use flash (like sockshare or putlocker).
: I recommend using this site to find any movies you are searching for first. TVLinks.eu may have the capability to search for movie titles but they dont offer links to sites hosting those files like they do with tv shows.
This site offers the same options for shows and movies a like.
Need to Know: If the movie you are searching for just came out and hasn't been released on DVD/BR yet then the links offered are ALL going to be of TS or CAM quality copies of the movie. This will be the same no matter where you search or find that video file. As long as you understand that you won't get upset at the quality if the movie just came out.
BUT if the movie IS out on DVD or BR then it WILL be available with DVD or BR quality right here right away.
Also most movies that have been released 2010 or later will have links with HD copies marked as HD on this site.
OR you can find and download the torrent of a movie (same rules as above as far as quality) and download the complete movie file from the torrent in or some other bit torrent client. (details below)
Torrents (of shows or movies)
Quick Guide To Understanding Torrents and Torrent Lingo
How To Use Torrents (quick video tutorial)
Is just one of many bit-torrent clients to choose from. You will need to download this tiny program but it's free and VERY user-friendly. It's the best in my opinion but there are others. Refer to the video tutorial above if you're not quite sure how to use it.
Just google your torrent file like this example: "download torrent true blood s05e07" and of the displayed results choose one of the torrent file search/hosting sites you are sure to see (recommendations below).
Torrent Sites (sites to download torrents from)
The above sites are listed in the order of my personal preference and are ones that are not only user-friendly but always tend to have what I'm looking for and most importantly, can be trusted. Some torrent search sites give you the run-a-round or try to trick you into downloading their download managers or toolbars or just crap and it can be frustrating so give the above a go first and see if they have what your looking for.
FYI: If your searching for a torrent of a movie, episode, season or entire series of something that isn't currently airing, recent or popular then you will have a harder time finding good torrents for it. You may find A torrent but if it's got 0 seeders it's not going to completley download.
As you learned in the tutorials above the more seeders a torrent has the faster the download and more chance it has of working out. If your searching for some random episode of some obscure show no longer on the air or an old movie no one really cared but you then you may have a hard time. Just keep that in mind.
Personally I like to control my videos better by downloading them (using netvideohunter or utorrent), playing them in one of my media players and then deleting them when I'm done (unless its a favorite show or movie then I just transfer it to an external drive so I can watch it any time I want). This way if the power cuts out or something happens and my browser crashes I'm not having to restart the entire buffering process. But this is just my prefernce, you decide what best suits you.
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