Most grateful if someone can give me advice on what software I need to download .rar vdo files.

files with an extension of .rar are not video files, they are actually a type of archive, similar to .zip files

 

most modern browsers, ftp clients, torrent clients etc should have no problems downloading .rar files but your problem is probably not how to download them - once downloaded you then need to extaract the actual files you want from the archive before you can use them

 

many of the common archive management utilities can extract files from rar archives, try 7-Zip (free, works with most archive formats including rar, zip, tar, gz) or google for other archive utilities that read rar archives, eg WinZip, WinRar etc

 

if the rar archive contains video or other media files then once you extract them from the archive you should be able to play them using the media player of your choice

 

bkkguy

Thanks bkkguy.

but your problem is probably not how to download them - once downloaded you then need to extaract the actual files you want from the archive before you can use them

That's exactly right. I have downloaded unZip and WinZip Mac - but still cannot open vdo files! I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong! Any thoughts?

 

And another question about vdo files. I can download and watch .avi files. But if there is an extension - .avi.001 - I'm scuppered again and they won't play! Again, any thoughts?

I suspect that WinZip cannot open .rar files but cannot be sure since I use WinRAR. The latter, however, will also open zip files.

 

An extension such as .001 is likely to mean that the file has been split and that it needs to be joined to the other, remaining, parts. A popular program to split, and join, files can be found here: http://www.hjsplit.org/

But if there is an extension - .avi.001 - I'm scuppered again and they won't play! Again, any thoughts?

You could also try renaming them. .avi.001 is, I think, an invalid extension. Either delete the .001 from the file extension, or just rename the file completely without putting in an extension - the operating system should recognise the file type and add the correct extension automatically.

Sorry for the late reply. Thanks ceejay. I have tried deleting the extensions with no success. I have also downloaded that split programme - again no success. I must be doing something wrong as I am sure it is not the computer's fault. I'll see if I can find someone to come in and sort it for me.