How to convert .FLV(Flash) to .WMV, .AVI or any other format?

In my last post on ‘How to Download Video, not just from YouTube?, I mentioned that the downloaded file will be in .flv format (Flash). I also gave links to some of the free FLV players. But, if you want to use that downloaded video in another or friends computer which doesn’t have FLV player then every time you have to install FLV player in all computers.
But it’s possible to convert FLV files to WMV, AVI or any other format you prefer and it’s easier than you think. The best part is you might already have that software installed in your computer.

So, How to convert FLV to WMV, AVI or any other format?
VLC player is one of the software which is widely used and which plays any format of audio or video (including .flv). The less known fact is that it also helps to convert audio and video file formats. Follow these steps to convert .flv to .wmv, .avi or any other format.
Note: If you don’t have VLC player yet, then you can download from VideoLan. It’s an open source!
Step 1: Load the .flv file into VLC player and press Stop. (If you are using large file then it may take some time to load, so wait till the whole file is loaded and then press stop. Otherwise you may not be able to transcode the full file)
Step 2: Go to File -> Wizard. It will give you a pop-up ‘Streaming/Transcoding Wizard‘.
Step 3: Select Transcode/Save to file and Click Next.

Step 4: Select Exisiting Playlist Item and the file you have just loaded will be listed there.
Step 5: Highlight the .flv file and click Next.

Step 6: In the next screen, Select Transcode Video and from the drop down box choose WMV3 (this has highest quality, though the output of the file may differ as per the original .flv file). If you are having problem with WMV3, try using WMV2.
Step 7: Select Transcode Audio and from the drop down box choose MP3 (for the quality to be higher, leave it at the default bitrate of 192) and click Next.

Step 8: choose ‘ASF‘ as the ‘Encapsulation Format‘ and click Next.
Step 9: You will be asked to select the file to save to, click ‘Choose‘ and browse to the folder where you want your new file to be saved.
Step 10: !!!Important!!! Type in the file name in the ‘File’ field with the extension of .WMV (example, lytebyte.wmv)
Step 11: Click Finish and wait for couple of seconds and the new file is ready.
Step 12: Use the new .WMV file in any player!
Earlier Update: In case if you are not able to transcode the full file, it may be because the file was not fully loaded before it was transcoded.