Great ways to share your videos using Windows 7 and Windows Live
Do you have your own videos or home movies on your computer that you want to share? You can burn your videos to DVD if you want to share with a few friends or family members, or you can upload videos to different video sharing websites to share them with the world. There are other options for sharing videos with friends and family, too, such as by using Windows Live SkyDrive, email, or instant messaging. And if you want to be able to watch your videos on different computers and devices at home, there are ways to do that, too. Windows 7 and Windows Live provide many options, so you can choose the ways that work best for you. Get started by learning more about each of your choices.
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One popular way to share videos is to burn them to a DVD-Video disc that you can give to people to watch on TV using a regular DVD player. If your family and friends don't live nearby, you can send the DVD in the mail.
Watch your DVD on TV
If your computer is running Windows 7 Home Premium, Windows 7 Professional, Windows 7 Enterprise, or Windows 7 Ultimate, you can use Windows DVD Maker to burn your videos to a DVD-Video disc. For more information about burning videos to a DVD-Video disc using Windows DVD Maker, see Burn a DVD-Video disc with Windows DVD Maker.
If you don't have Windows DVD Maker or you want more advanced features, such as creating chapters or customizing menus on the DVD, you can use other DVD–burning software. You can search for
other DVD-burning software programs by going to the Windows 7 Compatibility Center website and searching for "burn DVD."
If being able to play your videos from a DVD on TV isn't a key requirement for you, you can burn a different kind of disc—a data DVD or CD. You can usually make these kinds of discs more quickly than a DVD-Video disc. However, videos on most data DVDs and CDs only play on computers.
For information about burning a data DVD or CD using different features in Windows 7, see one or more of the following topics, and choose the way that works best for you. Each feature has different benefits, but all of them will help you create a data DVD or CD.
You can also burn your favorite videos to a data DVD or CD using Windows Live Photo Gallery. Windows Live Photo Gallery is part of Windows Live Essentials, which you can download for free from the Windows Live Essentials website.
Another popular way to share videos today is to post them on a video sharing website, such as on YouTube.
This a good option if you have a broadband connection. Uploading and viewing videos can be time-consuming over a dial-up connection. (Viewing videos online is best if viewed over a broadband connection, too.) Sharing your videos on a video sharing website is a good way to go if you don't want to spend time creating and mailing a bunch of DVDs or CDs.
For example, after you've uploaded your video, you can send a link to the video to your friends in an email message, and they can then watch the video online in their web browser. The video is stored on the video sharing website and other people can link to your video if they want. If you're concerned about your privacy, check to see if the site allows you to choose who can or can't view your videos.
You can publish your movie directly to YouTube using Windows Live Movie Maker. You can also download and install other publishing plug-ins that let you publish your videos on other popular video sharing or social networking websites directly through Movie Maker. Windows Live Movie Maker is a part of Windows Live Essentials, which you can download for free from the Windows Live Essentials website.
Share movies on popular websites using Windows Live Movie Maker
With a Windows Live ID, you can share your videos online with friends and family using Windows Live SkyDrive. You can upload your videos to Windows Live SkyDrive, and then send a link to video to your friends and family in an email message. Because you can set the permissions on your SkyDrive folders, you can determine who can watch your videos or access any other files in that folder. Friends and family can then download the video and watch it on their computer. Using SkyDrive means you won't fill up your friends and family's email inboxes with large attachments, and they can watch your videos anytime they're online. To get started using SkyDrive, go to the Windows Live SkyDrive website.
You can also attach a video file to an email message, and then send it to your friends and family. The recipient of the email message can open the message, and then download and play the attached video file in a media player on their computer. For more information about playing videos, see Play an audio or video file.
Sharing videos in email works great for smaller videos, such as short video clips you might have recorded with your digital camera or mobile phone. Some email providers place a file size limit on email attachments, so make sure that the video file doesn't exceed that limit. Check the documentation for your email provider to learn more about file size limits for email attachments.
You can attach videos to email messages using different email programs, including Windows Live Mail (which is also part of Windows Live Essentials) and Windows Live Hotmail on the web.
Similar to sending a video in an email message, you can also send a small video file in many instant messaging programs. As with email, this works well for smaller and shorter video clips.
To send a video in an instant message, open your instant messaging program, start a conversation with someone, and then attach and send the video file like you would any other type of file. Your friend can then download the video file and watch it using a media player on their computer. Before sending a video, check for any file size limits that might exist for sending attachments using your instant messaging program.
There are many instant messaging programs that you can use today that let you send videos in instant messages—including Windows LiveMessenger, which is also part of Windows Live Essentials.
If you're going to see the people you want to share your video with in person, you might want to copy your videos to a flash memory card or USB flash drive. To copy your video files to the flash memory card or USB flash drive, insert the memory card into a compatible memory card reader (or insert the USB flash drive into a USB port on your computer), and then copy the video files to the flash memory card or drive. For more about copying files or folders, see Copy and paste a file.
To play the video, bring the flash memory card or USB flash drive to your friends and family, insert the flash memory card into a compatible flash memory card reader (or insert the USB flash drive into a USB port on their computer), and then play the video file. For more information about playing videos, see Play an audio or video file.
Copy videos to a USB flash drive
In addition to sharing videos with people around the world, you can use different features in Windows 7 to share and stream videos to computers and devices in your home over your home network. To get started and learn more about home networking, see Setting up a home network.
If you've already got your home network set up, you can start sharing and streaming your videos over it right now. Read one or more of the following topics about how to do this using Windows 7:
You can also share your videos and other files over your home network if you have a computer that's running Windows Home Server. Windows Home Server lets you share your videos (and other digital media files) with other computers and devices on your home network. To learn more about Windows Home Server, go to the Windows Home Server website.
