PC Cache / Free Space / Hard Drive, etc.

[Rod Serling]

If i watch something streamed or uploaded, i.e. I-Player or You Tube, is it recorded on my PC?

[ABerrant]

It depends.

If the media is presented using true streaming the information is sent straight to the computer or device without saving the file to a hard disk.
Another variant of streaming is provided by a means called progressive download. Progressive downloading involves caching (saving) the file to a hard disk and then playing it from that location.

[Rod Serling]

Ta for that, but I am trying to find a video I watched ages ago on something like YouTube or a Funnies site, is there any chance of retrieving it from my cache?

[SpodoCommodo]

from ages ago - no

[ChuckFickens]

Possibly, though saying yutube or something like a funny site doesn't help as they could cache things in a different way.

if it was youtube have a look in C:\Documents and Settings\User\Local Settings\Temporary Internet Files (assuming you ahve windows XP)

if it's there the file will have a random file name but will have the extension .flv

if it was ages ago though it's probably been deleted automatically from the temporary internet files.