User Guide

Overview
How to Get Answers to Questions in Plain English
Setting up Ask & Record Toolbar
How to Save a Web Video
How to Record Web Audio
How to Play Your Recordings
How to Convert Video and Audio Files

Overview

Ask & Record Toolbar is a great way to capture and convert many kinds of audio and video from the internet. And, using technology from Ask.com, you can improve your web surfing experience. Ask & Record Toolbar is 100% free.

Ask & Record Toolbar works within your Internet Explorer or Firefox browser. The buttons on the toolbar let you do these cool things:

• Save Web Video
• Record Web Audio
• Convert Video and Audio files
• Play downloaded media, including FLV Files
• Get answers to questions in plain English

As a side benefit, Ask & Record Toolbar automatically:

• Blocks pop-up ads.
• Automatically fills in forms with a single click.

Important Legal note: The audio and video you record for your personal use may be copyrighted. Under the current laws of most countries, you are allowed to save these recordings and watch them yourself, but any redistribution or rebroadcast of these programs to others constitutes illegal use. Please respect the rights of the content owners when recording.

How to Get Answers to Questions in Plain English.

The "Ask" part of Ask & Record Toolbar is your key to the most advanced Web search technology on the planet. Just enter a question in plain English like "How many miles to the moon", and Ask.com will find the answer for you. It's a great complement to Google or whatever else you may be using for web searches.

Try it!

Note: The Toolbar also has built-in technology to block annoying pop-up ads, and to automatically fill in forms on web pages. These features are always on.

Setting up Ask & Record Toolbar

Before using Ask & Record Toolbar, we recommend you check out the program settings.

Click the Settings button . The Settings screen appears:

Storage Directory

This is where your saved video and audio files are placed.

Video Capture Settings

Temporary Storage Size: This allows you to set a limit on how much disk space you want for saving streaming video or audio files. In many cases, a separate (temporary) copy of the streaming media file needs to be saved to your PC. If this size limit is exceeded, older files are automatically deleted.

Monitor Internet Explorer's temporary directory: If you are getting two of every video file when recording from Internet Explorer, uncheck this option. If you change the User Account Control option on your PC, then you may need to change this option as well. This is configured to the proper setting the first time you use Ask & Record Toolbar.

Audio Capture Settings

MP3 Audio Bit rate: This specifies the quality and size of recorded audio files. The larger the number, the better the quality, and the larger the file. Most Web audio is not streamed at a quality higher than 128 Kbps, so increasing this setting won't make lousy audio files sound any better.

Ask & Record Toolbar has two different audio recording technologies. If you get always multiple copies of an audio file when recording, You can enable or disable them using these settings:

Record using Windows Vista Audio Technology: Specific to Windows Vista, this method is most reliable for Vista users. This has no effect on XP machines.

Record using Applian Audio Driver Technology: This method will work on 99% of machines. If the other method isn't always working, or if you are using Window XP or 2000, make sure this method is selected.

How to Save a Web Video

Ask & Record Toolbar watches your "video cache" and privately keeps track of every video you've watched. If you've just viewed something you'd like to save on your PC, here's how to save it:

1. Click Save Video . You'll be presented with the following screen:
   
   



2. Click the file to save, then press the Save button . The Save dialog appears:
   
   
   
   
3. You can rename your file here. Click Save to save it to disk in your Storage Directory.

Hint: To save a video, it needs to be fully downloaded to your PC. Normally if you've watched it already, then it's ready to save.

Other things you can do from this screen after selecting a media file:

Play the selected file.

Remove the selected file from the list.

Note: The Save Video feature works with many audio files too.

Product Tip
	To capture more kinds of streaming video, try Replay Media Catcher.

How to Record Web Audio

The Record Audio feature acts just like a tape recorder. Anything you are listening to can be captured in real time - as you listen.

Here's how to record audio using Ask & Record Toolbar:

1. Click the Record Audio button . The Audio Recording window appears:
   
   
   
   
2. Play your audio. You'll see the wavy lines in the audio recording window move. This indicates that Ask & Record Toolbar is able to "hear" the audio you want saved.
3. When you're finished, click Stop Record . (You can also stop a recording by hovering over the recording window and clicking the Stop button that appears there.) The Recorded Audio window appears showing your recording:
   
   
   
   
4. In many cases, you'll get two copies of a recording, depending upon how you've configured the Audio Capture Settings. (See Settings for details on configuring this in the best way.)
5. Check the recording you'd like to save, and click Close. The MP3 file is saved to your Storage Directory.

Hint: Right-click on any recording to see more options:

Product Tip
	If you're recording songs, try Replay Music. This advanced audio recorder will automatically split songs into individual tracks, and identify and tag your MP3 files with artist, album, title and genre information.

How to Play Your Recordings

To play your saved media files, Ask & Record Toolbar makes it easy to open your storage directory and see your audio and video files.

1. Click the Play button .
2. The folder with your media files opens (looking something like this):
   
   
   
   
3. Double click on any file to play it.

How to Convert Video and Audio Files

Ask & Record Toolbar not only saves files, but includes a simple convert function to let you "transcode" your video and audio files to other formats. Here's how it works:

1. Click the Convert button . The Convert window appears:
   
   
   
   
2. A list of your recorded files appears. Click the check box next to each file you want to convert.
3. Pick the target format from the Select New Format list.
4. If you'd like the converted file to be automatically added to iTunes, select the Add to iTunes library option.
5. You can change the folder where your converted files are saved by changing the Select Directory option.
6. Click Begin to start the conversion process. You'll see your conversion status:
   
   
   
   
7. When your conversions are finished, you'll see a window like this.
   
   
   

Product Tip
	For faster, more advanced conversions, including DVD burning, try Replay Converter.