# TiVo Desktop and Windows Home Server



## ewilts (Feb 26, 2002)

For those who are interested, I've successfully installed and run TiVo Desktop 2.4a on Windows Home Server RC1. After installing the latest JRE, HD Photos works too.

Sweet!

.../Ed


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## ewilts (Feb 26, 2002)

I've just run across an add-in for WHS to give us the same functionality only it should be much easier to install and manage.

http://durfee.net/software/2007/07/tivo-publisher-for-whs.html

I'll be trying it out and see if it can display HD photos on the S3...

.../Ed


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## richone52 (Oct 26, 2004)

ewilts said:


> For those who are interested, I've successfully installed and run TiVo Desktop 2.4a on Windows Home Server RC1. After installing the latest JRE, HD Photos works too.
> 
> Sweet!
> 
> .../Ed


How do you install tivo desktop on WHS? It is an exe file and the add on is looking for msi files? New to WHS and am trying to get this loaded.

thanks
Rich


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## fuchsr (Dec 11, 2007)

I installed the add-in on my HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server, but whenever my Series 3 Tivo tries to access the home server it reboots! No idea if it's a bug in the Tivo or the home server add-in but it obviously renders the add-in useless for me.



ewilts said:


> I've just run across an add-in for WHS to give us the same functionality only it should be much easier to install and manage.
> 
> http://durfee.net/software/2007/07/tivo-publisher-for-whs.html
> 
> ...


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## ewilts (Feb 26, 2002)

I ended up not using the add-in and am using the normal TiVo Desktop application. It installs and runs just fine - the only catch is that after a WHS reboot, I need to sign on to get the TiVo Desktop app to start up. One of these days, I'll work on figuring out to run it without logging on first.

.../Ed


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## fuchsr (Dec 11, 2007)

To clarify: What reboots is the Tivo, not the Home Server!



fuchsr said:


> I installed the add-in on my HP MediaSmart Windows Home Server, but whenever my Series 3 Tivo tries to access the home server it reboots! No idea if it's a bug in the Tivo or the home server add-in but it obviously renders the add-in useless for me.


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## Rockett0 (Jan 1, 2008)

Bump.

Anyone else using the add-in with their windows home server?

I had a HP ex470 before I bought the Tivo. 

I've gotten the Tivo to see the list of videos once. But since then nothing is coming up. Not sure if I need to make changes on the WHS side or Tivo side. 

I'm streaming to the XBOX360 from WHS with no problems.


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

Anyone able to get the new Tivo Desktop installed on their WHS?


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## crawform (Mar 16, 2003)

bump...just got the HP EX470 and was wondering if anyone can share the tips/tricks of getting Tivo Deskotp installed on WHS


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## donnoh (Mar 7, 2008)

Does anyone know if WHS can run the Tivo desktop software? I have an old desktop that I only use for storing Tivo files and I would like to either replace it with a NAS box running WHS or just install WHS on the desktop and add a couple of drives set up in a RAID 1 configuration.
Any thoughts on this?


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## donnoh (Mar 7, 2008)

After Googling this thing to death I have decided to install windows home server on a custom made PC using an Atom processor. As far as I determine I can get Tivo to Go or an equivalent running on this machine and keep my Tivo and PCs backed up.


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## roebuj (Jan 26, 2009)

I installed TIVO Desktop on my WHS by logging in to WHS via Remote Desktop Connection. Next I created a new user account named TIVO and gave it administrator group access. Then, I logged in as TIVO and installed TIVO Desktop. I installed it under TIVO user name because when you see the server in the TIVO menus, it displays the user name and I did not want Administrator showing up. To keep the server connected, you can not log off of WHS. However, you can exit out and keep your user name logged on to keep the application running. I would like to be able to find a way to run TIVO Desktop as a service on the WHS to avoid having a user always logged on. I did notice a part of the Tivo Desktop known as &#8220;Tivo Beacon&#8221; running as a service. Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?


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## vitocorleone (Dec 31, 2005)

The "best" (?) way to do Tivo on WHS is, to the best of my knowledge, as I have ended up doing after much research:

1) install and configure pytivo for serving up videos (PC -> Tivo), though I couldn't get music or photos working yet but others have I think

2) install and configure Galleon for GoBack (Tivo -> PC)

3) Optional: install and configure streambaby to work through Galleon to stream videos (PC -> Tivo) with a couple of "gotchas" as it's still in early active development

Supposedly, the Tivo add-in service works well for serving up videos (PC -> Tivo), but lacks the ability to go the other direction I believe (Tivo -> PC).

I've never tried installing Tivo Desktop on WHS because I read it's a real PITA (and isn't as flexible).

There is an app you can download (register for free on their forum) from www.wegotserved.co.uk to turn any app into a service, though your mileage may vary.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

I wanted to bring this back to the top. I am purchasing the HP MediaSmart server and want to find the best setup to work with my TIVO's.

I would love to use the WHS service if it provides similar functionality as TIVO desk top.


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## flyersfan (Nov 11, 2002)

I have all the parts for a homebrew WHS build at home and will put it together tonight. One of the first things I'll do is install Tivo Desktop. I intend to install it under the Administrator account since I have no problems with it showing up like that on the Tivos.

My plan is to login to WHS using RDP with the admin switch and install it there. So, *mstsc.exe /admin*. I believe the administrator account already logs itself in when WHS boots so this _should_ be the most seamless way to get it running with every reboot. If not, it's no big deal to just log in the administrator account and leave it running.

I know running extra stuff on WHS isn't supported (or even recommended outside add-ins) but it's just a Win2k3 Server. As long as you don't goof with IIS or other required services, I can't imagine what would go wrong. If I blow things up, I'll repost.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Keep us informed. 

I will be picking up the HP Mediasmart soon, but I have not decided the best configuration for my TIVO's. Options would be:

-Durfee WHS Service
-Tivo Desktop
-Pytivo

I would love to use the service, but understand it that it is not a full feature solution.

I use Tivo Desktop now and am relatively happy with it, but I understand there are installation issues. Having to remain logged in, etc...

As for Pytivo, I tried to install it a few years ago onto my home computer and could not get it to work. 

Well, just let us know how everything works out for you...


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Ok,

I ordered my Mediasmart server from Amazon this afternoon. I will be trying each of these solutions and will report back on what I like and do not like about each option.


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## sullydavid (Dec 29, 2003)

I have been setting up my new WHS server over the last couple of days. Made it from the guts of an old server. 

Installed pyTivo today and it was smooth as could be. I was a little hesitant as I had not seen much about it, but it really couldn't be easier. Running as Admin, and pyTivo as a service. After seeing how smooth this went in and enjoying the results, I am not even going to worry about Tivo Desktop.


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## rmassey (Sep 5, 2002)

I just setup a WHS a few days ago and moved all my video files to the server. Today I installed pyTivo just fine. 

As for Tivo desktop, I prefer to run that on my desktop client PC as I use it to xfer programs, edit with Video Redo and then move to the WHS for permanent storage and use with pyTivo. I really don't want to eidt video on the server, so it makes more sense for me to have TDT on the client for this purpose.


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## hrolf555 (Nov 14, 2006)

sullydavid said:


> I have been setting up my new WHS server over the last couple of days. Made it from the guts of an old server.
> 
> Installed pyTivo today and it was smooth as could be. I was a little hesitant as I had not seen much about it, but it really couldn't be easier. Running as Admin, and pyTivo as a service. After seeing how smooth this went in and enjoying the results, I am not even going to worry about Tivo Desktop.


I tried to install it on my WHS(the new HP one) but couldn't figure out how to get it to work. I also don't know jack about PERL or other scripts... SIGH


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## flyersfan (Nov 11, 2002)

I can happily report that both pyTivo and Tivo Desktop are running well on my Windows Home Server. It's a homebrew PC with a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H motherboard, an AMD 4850e (45W) proc, 4gb RAM, and two 1.5tb drives.

I was wrong in thinking the Administrator account logs itself in. So the only drawback is I have to login to the server using RDP (as I detailed in my earlier post) and just leave the admin account logged in.

There's one small thing that makes me nervous. According to the forums on social.microsoft.com, they recommend never accessing files on the D: drive directly and use UNC connections (shares, such as \\server\music). Right now I have Tivo Desktop using D:\shares\Recorded TV as its video folder since using the network path (despite it pointing to the local machine) won't work. I *think* the 'storage balancing' feature in WHS is robust enough to deal with this situation and duplicate the folder properly, but only time will tell.

I'm very happy with the automated backup method in WHS and with everything else it's capable of. This was probably the best $95 I've spent on an OS in a long time.


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## dbtom (Feb 14, 2002)

I'm using the plug-in for WHS on an original HP Media Smart Server combined with another computer. I was primarily using the WHS to stream WMV and mp4 files to an Xbox 360. This worked fine for me, but when my parents came to visit I realized that switching inputs, then going to my videos, then home server, etc... was just too complicated. They really just needed to get the movies from the Tivo menu.

I decided that the best solution for me was to run Tivo Desktop Plus on a different (desktop) computer and then reference the video store on the home server. When my folks want to access the movie library they need to make sure that the other computer is turned on to do the transcoding. I just didn't think that the WHS had enough horsepower to transcode on the fly. This works fine since the other computer is on a lot and the transcoding happens pretty quickly.

I tried PyTivo, but I couldn't get it to transcode WMV files. Since most of my files are in this format it made it pretty useless.


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## raianoat (Jan 27, 2004)

flyersfan said:


> I can happily report that both pyTivo and Tivo Desktop are running well on my Windows Home Server. It's a homebrew PC with a Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-US2H motherboard, an AMD 4850e (45W) proc, 4gb RAM, and two 1.5tb drives.
> 
> I was wrong in thinking the Administrator account logs itself in. So the only drawback is I have to login to the server using RDP (as I detailed in my earlier post) and just leave the admin account logged in.
> 
> ...


What kind of issue are you having with using the UNC path? I'm using it on my WHS and it seems to work fine....


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

flyersfan said:


> ...
> 
> I was wrong in thinking the Administrator account logs itself in. So the only drawback is I have to login to the server using RDP (as I detailed in my earlier post) and just leave the admin account logged in.
> 
> ...


it does automatically run an instance of the administrator account at boot but it's not the same administrator account you get from remoting in. End result is things that are WHS add ins and some services will start automatically but most things you install from remoting in as admin wont work- it's weird. Real world examples- I have the WHS Tivo add installed- it starts at boot. From a remote log in I installed I-Drive backup software- it starts at boot. From a remote log in I installed MS Groove collaboration software and it will NOT start at reboot- I have to remote back in and log in and as soon as that account logs in it will start itself. I looked into it once and seems the "console" admin account and the "remote" admin account are NOT one and the same?

how old are the recommendations not to access D: directly? The original balancing software had a bug and had issues under certain conditions. The service pack fixed that. I assume the posts you saw were referencing the original problems but I'm not an expert enough to know.

for the HP machine (and even some more generic WHS questions)- I find http://www.mediasmartserver.net/ to be a great resource. We got served is cool too but it's so big it's hard to find info at times.

I have one of the original HP versions and I really love the hardware and the software features it has.

(one tip- that I use to remote in easier- install the advanced configuration add on. Then to remote in you can just use that to open an instace of file explorer. Then minimize the WHS home screen (advanced config adds the option) and you then get access remotely without having to open another window. I prefer it that way- others dont- just another option)


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