FAQ
Q: Is there any way to watch every video I have cached?
Yes - but not with this program. This feature was heavily considered, but was ultimately scrapped due to several factors including: potential confusion about what videos are being sent off; minimizing how much strain would be put on a dying hard drive; and a lack of time to thoroughly research how websites handle video chunks.
I would recommend VideoCacheView for the time being. For unindexed videos in particular, which VideoCacheView does not support, you may run start_decache.bat /keepall from the command line to save all of them to the Unverified folder.
Q: Can I run more than one computer at a time?
Not at a time, but in succession. You may supply a text file with a path to a computer on each line via the command line - e.g. start_decache.bat computers.txt - and the program will iterate through it.
To silence errors and move through a large number of computers without the need to pause, add the /silence:x command-line switch, with x being the mode:
- Ignore all errors; make no action.
- Ignore all errors, but always make one attempt to claim ownership of a directory you've been denied access to.
Q: Could the assets I'm asked to upload contain personal information?
No. We are committed to eliminating any and all personally identifiable information that could be present in any assets you send to us. For maximum clarity, the main steps that we've taken to achieve this goal have been outlined here:
- Decache will only look for known, static web assets. This means no data that could contain information about you, the user. We've gone out of our way to avoid any websites with the ability to make an account.
- YouTube playback links began including IP addresses in the 2010s. If Decache detects a link as being tied to a lost video, this data will be removed.
- For maximum comfort, Decache will not send over any assets if you don't agree to send them. They can be reviewed in advance in the Verified folder; any video in the Unverified folder is not sent over.
Q: How do I watch the videos I find?
The best program to play these videos is VLC Media Player. Once installed, you can select a given video and drag it in. If the list of videos disappears, CTRL+L will reopen it.
Q: I found something, but it's in a weird format/I can't open it. Should I convert it/modify it?
DON'T MODIFY ANY FILES before sending them over. It's very important that we receive the *raw* file for verification. If you must make some modifications to a file to properly inspect it, please make a copy elsewhere.
Q: Could running this program edit/move/delete any files on the selected computer?
No. We've gone out of our way to make sure that Decache won't make any changes to anything outside of its immediate folder.
Q: The program keeps closing instantly. What's wrong?
Windows often has issues with running ".bat" files when the path includes percentage signs (%) or ampersands (&). Please check any preceding folders for these characters, remove them/move the program, then continue.
Q: I got a pop-up saying "MZHistoryView has encountered a problem;" what does this mean?
On Windows XP, the tool we use to read the history of Firefox versions 1.0 and 2.0 consistently crashes. There is, unfortunately, no equivalent program - and you will have to connect/back up the hard drive to a more recent computer.
Q: How can I be sure that I'll be credited for the videos I send? Who reviews them?
The name you provided is automatically hammered into the metadata of all videos you might end up sending. We have a team of people reviewing unfiltered finds as they come in, including mutually trusted middlemen for any given bounty. If you're still worried, we welcome you to join our Discord server and publicly claim your findings there.