AstroSkipper

I always do this with Total Commander.

I use Windows XP on my old, beloved but weak Pentium 4 computer. I therefore prefer another approach since the PowerShell reacts very slowly on this machine: -- YouTube Link Resolver for VLC with Separate Video and Audio URLs -- Place this script in VLC's lua/playlist directory function probe() -- Check if the input is a YouTube link return vlc.access == "http" or vlc.access == "https" and (string.match(vlc.path, "youtube%.com") or string.match(vlc.path, "youtu%.be")) end function parse() -- Construct the full YouTube URL local youtube_url = vlc.access .. "://" .. vlc.path -- Path to yt-dlp executable (modify as needed) local yt_dlp_path = 'yt-dlp.exe' -- Start cmd hidden and ... local cmd_hidden = 'hidecon cmd /c &' -- Construct the command to get the direct video and audio URLs local cmd = string.format( '%s %s -g "%s"', cmd_hidden, yt_dlp_path, youtube_url ) -- Execute yt-dlp to get the direct video and audio URLs local handle = io.popen(cmd) -- Read video URL (first line) local video_url = handle:read("*l") -- Read audio URL (second line) local audio_url = handle:read("*l") handle:close() -- Trim any whitespace video_url = video_url and video_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" audio_url = audio_url and audio_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" -- Log the resolved URLs vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Original URL: " .. youtube_url) vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Video URL: " .. video_url) if audio_url and audio_url ~= "" then vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Audio URL: " .. audio_url) return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video)", options = { -- Add audio URL as input option ":input-slave=" .. audio_url } } } else vlc.msg.warn("[YouTube Resolver] No separate audio URL found. Playing single URL with both video and audio.") return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video + Audio)" } } end end The tool I use is hidecon and is very fast. You can get it here: http://code.kliu.org/misc/hidecon/

For all who don't want to use nircmd.exe from Nirsoft, I created alternative code using native PowerShell: -- YouTube Link Resolver for VLC with Separate Video and Audio URLs -- Place this script in VLC's lua/playlist directory function probe() -- Check if the input is a YouTube link return vlc.access == "http" or vlc.access == "https" and (string.match(vlc.path, "youtube%.com") or string.match(vlc.path, "youtu%.be")) end function parse() -- Construct the full YouTube URL local youtube_url = vlc.access .. "://" .. vlc.path -- Path to yt-dlp executable (modify as needed) local yt_dlp_path = 'yt-dlp.exe' -- Start cmd hidden and ... local cmd_hidden = 'PowerShell.exe -windowstyle hidden cmd /c &' -- Construct the command to get the direct video and audio URLs local cmd = string.format( '%s %s -g "%s"', cmd_hidden, yt_dlp_path, youtube_url ) -- Execute yt-dlp to get the direct video and audio URLs local handle = io.popen(cmd) -- Read video URL (first line) local video_url = handle:read("*l") -- Read audio URL (second line) local audio_url = handle:read("*l") handle:close() -- Trim any whitespace video_url = video_url and video_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" audio_url = audio_url and audio_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" -- Log the resolved URLs vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Original URL: " .. youtube_url) vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Video URL: " .. video_url) if audio_url and audio_url ~= "" then vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Audio URL: " .. audio_url) return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video)", options = { -- Add audio URL as input option ":input-slave=" .. audio_url } } } else vlc.msg.warn("[YouTube Resolver] No separate audio URL found. Playing single URL with both video and audio.") return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video + Audio)" } } end end If directly placing the yt-dlp.exe file into the VLC main programme folder where the vlc.exe file is located, you do not need to specify the complete path of yt-dlp. The advantage is that once compiled the lua file to a luac file, you can use it in any VLC programme directory without any customization.

No. there is no problem on my machine. Without creating a portable folder inside the VLC programme folder, as written by @VistaLover, the most recent nightly from 09.04.2025 messed up my vlc folder under %APPDATA%. No more, no less. I had to clean up all VLC related things. Then I made a fresh portable setup of VLC Media Player 3.0.20. All is working fine now.

I gave the current nightly from 09.04.2025 a try. It works under Windows XP but is not stable. When watching a video on YouTube and stopping the stream with the stop button, the whole player closes. Therefore, I will stay with the official release of VLC Media Player in version 3.0.20 until a new official and stable version is released. Edit: This issue even happens when watching a local video file. Edit 2: I have tested again and found the cause of this issue. The portable version of VLC is not really portable. Every installation of the VLC Media Player uses the same vlc folder under c:\Documents and Settings. The nightly messed up this folder. Suddenly this issue was even in my original installation. As I already said, I will stay with the official release of VLC Media Player in version 3.0.20 until a new official and stable version is released. I made a fresh installation of version 3.0.20, and all is fine now.

You can place the youtube.lua file containg the posted and adapted code from above to VLC's lua/playlist directory as it is. Or, you can compile your adapted script to a luac file. It's up to you. I personally did the latter. And be aware of possible spaces in your path! Such paths must be additionally surrounded by quotation marks.

For me, the official releases are always decisive when assessing the compatibility of programmes. It's great that this problem has now been fixed in the nightly version. However, my statement was clear: Nevertheless, I will give the current nightly from 09.04.2025 a try. Therefore, thanks for the hint!

The official release of VLC Media Player in version 3.0.21 is not compatible with Windows XP, even not with service pack SP3. This has been well known for a long time. So, the last official XP-compatible version is 3.0.20. But so far this version runs very well under Windows XP. And with the new youtube.lua script, links to media files on YouTube work again.

I don't know if it has already been noticed, VLC Media Player 3.0.20 has not been able to play YouTube video links under Windows XP for months. Due to YouTube's permanent changes, the youtube.luac file from 08.06.2024 is outdated. An updated youtube.luac or youtube.lua version has not yet been published. So, I did a research and found an alternative version of the youtube.lua which makes use of the downloader yt-dlp. The Lua script project is called yt-dlp4vlc and was developed by FalloNero. Here is a link to his GitHub page: https://github.com/FalloNero/yt-dlp4vlc. I have already tested this Lua script, and it works fine. The script calls up yt-dlp.exe and transfers the parsed link to VLC. Unfortunately, there is one small drawback. The Lua programming language does not have a command to minimise or to hide a console window. Under Windows, a console window is opened and only closed when the parsed link has been successfully transferred to VLC. I don't like that, so I modified the Lua code in this script. This is the code of the original Lua script: -- YouTube Link Resolver for VLC with Separate Video and Audio URLs -- Place this script in VLC's lua/playlist directory function probe() -- Check if the input is a YouTube link return vlc.access == "http" or vlc.access == "https" and (string.match(vlc.path, "youtube%.com") or string.match(vlc.path, "youtu%.be")) end function parse() -- Construct the full YouTube URL local youtube_url = vlc.access .. "://" .. vlc.path -- Path to yt-dlp executable (modify as needed) local yt_dlp_path = "C:\\YT-DLP\\yt-dlp.exe" -- Construct the command to get the direct video and audio URLs local cmd = string.format( '%s -g "%s"', yt_dlp_path, youtube_url ) -- Execute yt-dlp to get the direct video and audio URLs local handle = io.popen(cmd) -- Read video URL (first line) local video_url = handle:read("*l") -- Read audio URL (second line) local audio_url = handle:read("*l") handle:close() -- Trim any whitespace video_url = video_url and video_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" audio_url = audio_url and audio_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" -- Log the resolved URLs vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Original URL: " .. youtube_url) vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Video URL: " .. video_url) if audio_url and audio_url ~= "" then vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Audio URL: " .. audio_url) return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video)", options = { -- Add audio URL as input option ":input-slave=" .. audio_url } } } else vlc.msg.warn("[YouTube Resolver] No separate audio URL found. Playing single URL with both video and audio.") return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video + Audio)" } } end end And here is the code of the Lua script modified by me:: -- YouTube Link Resolver for VLC with Separate Video and Audio URLs -- Place this script in VLC's lua/playlist directory function probe() -- Check if the input is a YouTube link return vlc.access == "http" or vlc.access == "https" and (string.match(vlc.path, "youtube%.com") or string.match(vlc.path, "youtu%.be")) end function parse() -- Construct the full YouTube URL local youtube_url = vlc.access .. "://" .. vlc.path -- Path to yt-dlp executable (modify as needed) local yt_dlp_path = "c:\\Programme\\VideoLAN\\VLC\\yt-dlp.exe" -- Hide window and ... (modify as needed) local cmd_hide = 'c:\\Programme\\VideoLAN\\VLC\\nircmd.exe win hide stitle "Lua" &' -- Start cmd, title the window and ... local cmd_title = 'cmd /c title Lua &' -- Construct the command to get the direct video and audio URLs local cmd = string.format( '%s %s %s -g "%s"', cmd_title, cmd_hide, yt_dlp_path, youtube_url ) -- Execute yt-dlp to get the direct video and audio URLs local handle = io.popen(cmd) -- Read video URL (first line) local video_url = handle:read("*l") -- Read audio URL (second line) local audio_url = handle:read("*l") handle:close() -- Trim any whitespace video_url = video_url and video_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" audio_url = audio_url and audio_url:gsub("^%s+", ""):gsub("%s+$", "") or "" -- Log the resolved URLs vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Original URL: " .. youtube_url) vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Video URL: " .. video_url) if audio_url and audio_url ~= "" then vlc.msg.info("[YouTube Resolver] Audio URL: " .. audio_url) return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video)", options = { -- Add audio URL as input option ":input-slave=" .. audio_url } } } else vlc.msg.warn("[YouTube Resolver] No separate audio URL found. Playing single URL with both video and audio.") return { { path = video_url, name = vlc.path .. " (Video + Audio)" } } end end For hiding the console window, I have used nircmd. The script has to be adapted to the location of both files yt-dlp.exe and nircmd.exe. The advantage of this script is that from now on, the interaction of YouTube and VLC no longer depends on an updated youtube.lua script which is only carried out at very irregular intervals, but on the downloader yt-dlp.exe maintained by @nicolaasjan. Long story short, VLC Media Player 3.0.20 is again able to play YouTube videos from their links. And now even without an annoying console window. Cheers, AstroSkipper

ytBATCH for Windows XP - A fork of ytBATCH by AstroSkipper ytBATCH for Windows XP is a YouTube video and audio downloader script (or better a script ensemble) forked by @AstroSkipper from eppic's original ytBATCH script on GitHub. A lot about this project can be read in my post Pre-release of ytBATCH for Windows XP - A fork of ytBATCH by AstroSkipper. It is now available in version 1.6 and a big leap forward with many changes and corrections compared to the pre-release 1.0. All changes can be found in my very long changelog. So, I'll spare you a lot of words at this point and let a few screenshots speak for themselves: ytBATCH for Windows XP - Changelog: ytBATCH for Windows XP - Pre-release version 1.0 (aka 2.9.2): wget dowloader added. 7-Zip command line tool added. Missing DOS command choice.exe added. Non XP-compatible PowerShell commands removed. New, compatible code added. @nicolaasjan's youtube-dl and yt-dlp releases implemented. @Reino's latest ffmpeg release implemented. Update module in terms of youtube-dl, yt-dlp and ffmpeg changed. ytBATCH for Windows XP - Inofficial development builds 1.1 -1.4: Autoupdate module for ytBATCH completely removed. Update module for ytBATCH converted into a version check one. Command line tools cecho, window and nircmd added. Specific sizes and positions for all windows established. All menus reworked and key commands coloured red. Several new menu items added. Several bugs fixed. ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.5 - Final release: Complete review of ytBATCH's algorithm. Due to changes in pre-configurations, installer module fully reworked. Some illogical or incomplete actions fixed. New batch files created and added. New menu items added. Beside others, links to the homepages of youtube-dl, yt-dlp, ffmpeg, ytBATCH for Windows XP and an About ytBATCH for Windows XP menu item to inform users and to give credits to the creators of programmes used. Non-functional download queue restored. New queue menu item added. A problematic and actually unnecessary, global variable completely removed. A new, global variable added. The handling of the download history changed. Config files for youtube-dl and yt-dlp created and assigned to each of them. The respective, desired command line options are permanently saved there. Wrong command line options for youtube-dl corrected. Some important command line options have been preset by me in the new config files of youtube-dl and yt-dlp. Among other things, the video resolution is limited to a maximum of 480p. If other resolutions are required, please change this default setting in these new config files! The ability to download subtitles via youtube-dl restored. youtube-dl is now correctly implemented and working in ytBATCH. Install and update module changed to implement @Reino's ffprobe which is needed in some cases. Update module for youtube-dl and yt-dlp fully reworked. A version check created and preceded. A further module for a direct update of youtube-dl, yt-dlp and ffmpeg reworked and made accessible as a menu item. Help for youtube-dl respectively yt-dlp added for a quick access to all available command line options. Further bugs, flaws and imperfections fixed. Command line tool shortcut32 added. During the initial setup, a desktop shortcut to the ytBATCH.bat start file will be automatically created. Different shortcuts added to a new subfolder lnk with specific colour schemes which will be automatically adjusted during the initial setup. The user can copy the desired one to the desktop. Menu item Generate ytBATCH for Windows XP shortcuts adapted to recent changes. ytBATCH icon file created and added to the main folder for use in shortcuts. ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.6: Version number bumped to 1.6. yt-dlp update module completely reworked. Now, a correct version check is performed first. When the update has been completed, the new version is shown once again. youtube-dl update module modified accordingly. Direct updater for yt-dlp and youtube-dl changed to show the new version number when the update has been completed. Config files for youtube-dl and yt-dlp modified to download YouTube videos with a resolution 480p and the h264 codec at maximum combined with the audio codec mp4a for all Windows XP users on old, weak hardware like me , and to embed subtitles. These config files can of course be edited by the user to use higher codecs and resolutions at any time. A no longer required batch file removed. Compatibility notes: ytBATCH for Windows XP does not have special system requirements and should run everywhere. However, it was developed under Windows XP Professional 32-Bit but should actually run under other legacy OSes like Windows Vista or Windows 7, too. I couldn't test this but the users can do it and report here. If you run Windows XP on a computer with an SSE-only CPU, however, you can only use youtube-dl as the default YouTube downloader. Download links: Download link for the ytBATCH for Windows XP - Pre-release version 1.0 (aka 2.9.2): https://www.mediafire.com/file/6c9hfkfpiwextf0/ytBATCH_for_Windows_XP_2.9.2.7z/file Download link for the final release ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.5: https://www.mediafire.com/file/7qljpnbzsxk1yn5/ytBATCH_for_Windows_XP_1.5.7z/file Download link for the new release ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.6: https://www.mediafire.com/file/eukray6px9h9bg6/ytBATCH_for_Windows_XP_1.6.7z/file ytBATCH for Windows XP is fully portable. It does not write any values to the registry and does not store any settings outside its programme folder. That means all settings are located only in its programme folder. Only a shortcut is placed on the desktop during setup. Nevertheless, the initial setup should be carried out with my original archive due to the adjustments in terms of the desired programme location that are automatically performed by the script during the initial setup and are necessary. A simple move of the programme folder after initial setup to another location would therefore make all shortcuts useless. If you do yet such a move after initial setup, you have to call the Installer.bat in the bin directory separately to re-adjust all shortcuts to the new location. The download folder for media files can be preset in the Preferences window via the menu item Change Output Path. I recommend to check all options inside this script by pressing corresponding keys to set it optimally. As far as I have noticed, all is working fine under Windows XP. And I have deeply tested all functions there. The general use of ytBATCH for Windows XP is actually self-explanatory and well documented on ytBATCH's homepage: https://github.com/eppic/ytBATCH. Of course, some features are only available in my fork. Any opinions, questions or experiences on my release ytBATCH for Windows XP are of course welcome here in my thread. If you encounter any issues with my fork, please post it only here and not on GitHub! This fork is unofficial and not supported on GitHub. Greetings from Germany, AstroSkipper P.S. from 04.04.2025: Please redownload the final release ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.5 if you have already downloaded it! I forgot to adapt one menu item to a very recent change. P.S. from 21.04.2025: FYI, all releases of ytBATCH for Windows XP have been fixed by me so that the setup routine does not only work correctly on drive C: but also on any other drive. Please, re-download the desired release! ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.6 is currently the most recent, final release and recommended by me.

FWIW, that's not what I said...

I am just a one-man band. ytBATCH is not only one script but an ensemble of scripts. Things take as long as they take. And as you know, haste makes waste. And Google and their damn changes can go to hell...

I would never have noticed such things. I would never think of reading something on a Microsoft page about Windows 11 in a legacy browser under a legacy OS.

@nicolaasjan Thanks for updating your release of youtube-dl to version 2025.04.01! I have tested it with my fork ytBATCH for Windows XP, and it is working again with YouTube. . Now, I am able to deeply test my latest version in all its functionality.

Thanks for confirmation and clarification! So, we'll have to wait until it is fixed if it is possible at all.

I have changed the title of my publication of ytBATCH for Windows XP. It is currently to be understood as a pre-release. My fork has moved further and further away from the original script and is becoming more and more independent. Therefore, I havel changed the version number assignment. Consider my pre-release ytBATCH for Windows XP 2.9.2 as version 1.0! This means: ytBATCH for Windows XP 2.9.2 = ytBATCH for Windows XP 1.0. Although I have made ytBATCH compatible with Windows XP, some things do not work. This is due to the fact that the algorithm in the original ytBATCH script was not quite correct or not really thought through and programmed to the end. The original script from eppic has the following shortcomings: The youtube-dl and yt-dlp downloaders are not considered and used separately. The download of subtitles can only work with yt-dlp, but not with youtube-dl. The script would not work with youtube-dl in general. The queue does not work at all. A globally defined variable causes problems in some cases. Various bugs in various places. Some actions are illogical or incomplete. This means that the original ytBATCH script only has limited functionality and won't work at its fullest on its targeted, higher OSes. I also have the feeling that eppic has given up its ytBATCH script in the meantime, as it has not been updated for three years. Updated on 29.3.2025: Today, I have found this on eppic's GitHub page: So, my feeling was correct. Nonetheless, eppic's script ensemble ytBATCH is great and worth developing further. In the meanwhile, I have already found the reasons for these issues listed above and was able to correct all of them. I have considerably changed the algorithm and modified or rewritten a lot of code. I also added new functions to make the script more informative and effective. Including a new window management and styling. Unfortunately, I can only test yt-dlp because @nicolaasjan's youtube-dl does not work with YouTube at the moment. However, the final release of ytBATCH for Windows XP will be prepared for the return of youtube-dl, whenever this will be. Cheers, AstroSkipper P.S.: Unfortunately, this all means that those using Windows XP on a computer with an SSE-only CPU will not be able to download video or audio files from YouTube using ytBATCH for Windows XP or other programmes also depending on youtube-dl at this time.

Unfortunately, there are no legacy releases , especially for a Windows XP die hard fan like me : https://github.com/Alex313031/thorium-legacy/releases

And to give you an impression of the state of development, here is a screenshot of the current Main Menu of ytBATCH for Windows XP: Of course, this is just a small insight into my project. The internal changes are much bigger and of course more important. However, I thought a little colour would make the DOS windows less boring. Frankly, this is all retro at its best. And @nicolaasjan, here you can see that I do not forget to give credits to creators for their work. This is a screenshot of the freshly created About ytBATCH for Windows XP window: When I look at my fork, I'm reminded wistfully of my old DOS days.

@nicolaasjan As part of my further development and testing of ytBATCH for Windows XP, I have also thoroughly tested your two releases youtube-dl and yt-dlp. As already reported, yt-dlp works great and can download video files and audio files easily from YouTube. Unfortunately, this is not the case with youtube-dl. Even with the very latest version 2025.3.26.0, I cannot download video or audio files from YouTube. I have tested this link as one of many: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffcitRgiNDs Here are two screenshots, the first one with a successful download via yt-dlp and the second one with an unsuccessful download via youtube.dl: Is youtube-dl currently not working with YouTube? Or is there anything else to consider? Of course, I know that the development of youtube-dl had many problems in the past, but I thought it would work again. I really tried different links but none of them are working with youtube-dl. In a lot of cases, I even got the message 403 Forbidden. This is of course bad news especially for those using a computer with a SSE only CPU. Greetings, AstroSkipper

While testing my further developed fork ytBATCH for Windows XP, I also tried to use youtube-dl for downloading YouTube videos and audio files. Unfortunately, without success. Eppic, the author of ytBATCH, uses the same command line options for both downloaders youtube-dl and yt-dlp. That does not make any sense. The way of setting subtitles internally, for example, only works with yt-dlp, but not at all with youtube-dl. The command line options for subtitles are unfortunately different. youtube-dl uses the command line option --write-sub where in contrast yt-dlp uses the --write-subs option. Their negations are also different. Therefore, I have changed the script ensemble considerably and made the internal setting of flags, if different in both downloaders, dependent on the downloader that is currently active. The same applies to the youtube-dl.conf configuration file. Eppic uses one and the same file for both YouTube downloaders, although the command line options are by no means identical. This is not expedient. I therefore have now changed this too and assigned a separate configuration file to each downloader. Now, each of the downloaders can be assigned its command line options stored in its own configuration file. These are major changes to the script files, and the development and testing phase continues.

Apparently, someone has gone completely wrong in their tone and choice of words. This kind of rhetoric may be the new spirit in your country since February, but you should think carefully about whether you go to this level. Apart from that, fortunately this forum is located in Europe and not in your home country.

I already modified my fork ytBATCH for Windows XP. I added new entries to the main window, removed the autoupdate function of ytBATCH completely, changed the update function for ytBATCH to a simple version check one and removed all superfluous code. Now, it is no longer possible to accidentally update ytBATCH, which would only render my fork non-functional. At the moment, the batch script ensemble is again in test mode.

Did I say that? I said: Look at the second screenshot under (Y)! This is the Preferences window, and there you can change the use of yt-dlp to youtube-dl. The latter is a YouTube downloader compatible with SSE only CPUs. When pressing the key Y and setting the value to youtube-dl, the youtube-dl.zip file will be automatically downloaded, unpacked and saved. Then, you can use it. And to finalize the SSE topic, the ffmpeg release from @Reino is also SSE compatible. So, there shouldn't really be any problems.

My Windows XP computer is equipped with a single core Pentium 4 Northwood 2.8 GHz CPU and no problems here. As long as the computer is able to download files from YouTube, it should work. If your CPU is only equipped with the SSE instructions set, you should use youtube-dl instead of yt-dlp. This can be set under Preferences. Watching YouTube videos is another matter, but ytBATCH for Windows XP has nothing to do with that.

No. But no unnecessary security bullying when I use self-modified or unsigned extensions or themes. I don't need such Mozilla checks. They don't exist in New Moon, either. So in my case, I prefer to get rid of them. However, for the normal user, such security checks are completely ok and in certain cases even sensible.