# How do I stop TiVo Server from running at startup?



## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

How do I stop TiVo Server from running at startup? And how do I exit it once it is running?

By "running", I mean whatever is causing the TiVo icon to show up in my system tray. It has an X, so I know the server isn't really active, but I don't want it running at all. (And I don't mean just telling Windows to hide the icon. I want to stop whatever is causing the icon from existing in the first place.)

I don't see anything in my Startup folder. I uncheck the "Start the TiVo Server when I log on to Windows" check box. I set the TiVo Beacon service to manual (but all that does is cause a "TiVo beacon is not running" error). But nothing is getting rid of it.

And, when I run Desktop, go into Server Properties, and click Exit, the icon remains in the system tray (although with an X in it). (Side note: Why isn't there an Exit item in the right-click menu on the system tray icon?! Duh?!)

How do I simply exit completely? I'm baffled that it's this hard.


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## aztivo (Feb 23, 2005)

rseligman said:


> How do I stop TiVo Server from running at startup? And how do I exit it once it is running?
> 
> By "running", I mean whatever is causing the TiVo icon to show up in my system tray. It has an X, so I know the server isn't really active, but I don't want it running at all. (And I don't mean just telling Windows to hide the icon. I want to stop whatever is causing the icon from existing in the first place.)
> 
> ...


you can go to your run box and type msconfig. there you can disable it from running


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## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

Yeah, I know about the Windows things I can do to hide icons or override startup settings. I just couldn't accept that there wasn't a TiVo-provided solution (like the "Start on log in" checkbox actually doing what it said). Also, your solution doesn't help when it's running and I want to stop it. (Yes, I know I can kill the processes.)


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## alansplace (Apr 30, 2006)

rseligman said:


> it's running and I want to stop it.


right-click the tivo icon in the tray and choose 'exit'.
--
Alan


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Actually what you want to do is right click the little TiVo icon in the tray and click Server Properties. In the dialog that opens up there is a check box that says "Start TiVo Server at Windows Startup". Uncheck that and then click the exit button.

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

None of that works with Tivo Desktop 2.3. Those options don't even exist anymore.

I can't figure out how to get rid of it while leaving Tivo Desktop operational, so I just hid it. At least I haven't had any problems with it.

Honestly I can't even figure out how the three process I see get launched. There's Tivobeacon, Tivo Notify, and Tivo Transfer. The only thing getting launched in Windows (at least in any normal way) is TivoBeacon as a service, so I guess it must be launching the other two.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Yes they do. The TiVo Server has to be running for the Server Properties menu item to appear. So first click "Restart TiVo Server". Then right click again and the bottom most option will be "TiVo Server Properties". Click that and it will open a dialog wit several tabs. The first one has the check box that says "Start the TiVo Server when I log on to Windows" and the Exit button.

I just did it on my PC so I know it works.

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Okay I started it, and saw the option to have it start when Windows starts...but it's already unchecked. The only other option I saw was to stop it, which just leaves it with an x-ed out icon again.


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## yesno (Jun 27, 2003)

This is what i use. 
Startup Control Panel


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Puppy76 said:


> Okay I started it, and saw the option to have it start when Windows starts...but it's already unchecked. The only other option I saw was to stop it, which just leaves it with an x-ed out icon again.


That's exactly right. As long as it has an X then the server is not running.

Are you saying you actually want to get rid of the icon? Because the only way to do that is to end task on TiVoNotify.exe, and if you do that you wont be able to restart the server until you reboot.

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Right, yeah. You used to be able to get rid of it prior to 2.3, but now I'm not even sure how it launches (aside from it must be getting launched by the TivoBeacon service).

Hey, intersting! I had never heard of the startup control panel program before. I'll have to play with it.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Prior to 2.3 the icon was part of the TiVoServer.exe program so it was only in the tray when the server was actually running. In 2.3 it's part of TiVoNotify.exe, which is always running. You can stop it from running via msconfig, but if it's not running when you launch TiVo Server it will throw an error. And it's not a simple process to start. (it runs as a service, so there are command switches you have to use you can't just double click the exe file)

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Thanks for the info! Do you know how Tivo Notify gets launched? The only service I see is TivoBeacon...so I'm assuming that also launches Tivo Notify?


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

It's launched via a registry entry. If you check msconfig you'll see it listed in there along with TiVoTransfer.exe the service which handles transfers from the TiVo to the PC so that TiVo Desktop doesn't have to stay open all the time.

Dan


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## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

alansplace said:


> right-click the tivo icon in the tray and choose 'exit'.


Thanks, but in my original post I lamented the fact that there is no such option.


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## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

Dan203 said:


> Actually what you want to do is right click the little TiVo icon in the tray and click Server Properties. In the dialog that opens up there is a check box that says "Start TiVo Server at Windows Startup". Uncheck that and then click the exit button.


Thanks, but in my original post I lamented that unchecking that box has no effect.


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## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

Dan203 said:


> Prior to 2.3 the icon was part of the TiVoServer.exe program so it was only in the tray when the server was actually running. In 2.3 it's part of TiVoNotify.exe, which is always running.


OK, bad change right there, TiVo.



> You can stop it from running via msconfig, but if it's not running when you launch TiVo Server it will throw an error. And it's not a simple process to start. (it runs as a service, so there are command switches you have to use you can't just double click the exe file)


I would be happy if it ran as a service, because you can stop a service. The only thing that appears as a service is TiVoBeacon, which I tried to disable (but as I said, all that does is cause TiVoNotify or TiVoTransfer to complain). But TiVoNotify and TiVoTransfer are not services, and so you can't stop them (short of killing them), and apparently you can't prevent them from starting. Also, an executable requiring command line switches can usually be wrapped in one that doesn't.

Thanks for explaining how these processes work together. I'm surprised that a user-focused company like TiVo doesn't provide a friendly way to disable or exit this app. Almost every other icon in my system tray I can right-click, choose Exit, and it goes away. I've not encountered much other than malware that doesn't let you do this.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

They did this because it's sort of a central repository for feedback from the various peices of the TiVo Desktop software. This little icon gives you feedback on transfers and conversions as well as the status of the server, so it makes sense that they would make it persistant. Although I guess they could offer the option to hide it.

In any case you can hide it yourself by simply right clicking on a blank area of the task bar and clicking "Properties". Now check "Hide inactive icons" and click "Customize". Now click on the TiVo icon and select "Always Hide" from the drop down menu. That will make it so it's always hidden unless you press the little expand arrow.

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> It's launched via a registry entry. If you check msconfig you'll see it listed in there along with TiVoTransfer.exe the service which handles transfers from the TiVo to the PC so that TiVo Desktop doesn't have to stay open all the time.
> 
> Dan


Oh, okay thanks. I didn't see it in the registry (I didn't know there was a "Run" that wasn't paired with a "Runonce" which is what I search for).

Found it...so I guess I can delete it if I want since I don't really use the server.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I believe the TiVoConverter program will also complain if TiVoNotify is not running. TiVoTransfer might as well. So you may want to just temporarily disable it using msconfig rather then deleting it from the registry.

Dan


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Thanks! Good advice!

EDIT: I tried manually killing Tivo Notify, and Tivo Desktop's transfer stuff still seemed to function fine, so it looks like it's probably safe to kill. I guess I'll just leave it, as it's smallish, seems well behaved, and I have actually used it once.


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## rseligman (Dec 5, 2000)

Dan203 said:


> They did this because it's sort of a central repository for feedback from the various peices of the TiVo Desktop software. This little icon gives you feedback on transfers and conversions as well as the status of the server, so it makes sense that they would make it persistant.


When I want to run it, what you say is true: then I do want to know what state it's in. But TiVo doesn't seem to have accounted for the possibility that a user _wouldn't_ want to run it constantly. It's a great feature, but I use it so rarely that I would prefer to not be running it, and then start it up when needed. I'm not sure why they think it's so vital to my general Windows experience that it has to be running constantly.

And again, I know how to hide icons in Windows. It's just a pain for a piece of software to force you to do that. IM apps, Google Desktop, Picasa, and other apps all let you cleanly exit from them. TiVo should be no different.


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## lordbear (Jan 2, 2003)

rseligman said:


> When I want to run it, what you say is true: then I do want to know what state it's in. But TiVo doesn't seem to have accounted for the possibility that a user _wouldn't_ want to run it constantly. It's a great feature, but I use it so rarely that I would prefer to not be running it, and then start it up when needed. I'm not sure why they think it's so vital to my general Windows experience that it has to be running constantly.
> 
> And again, I know how to hide icons in Windows. It's just a pain for a piece of software to force you to do that. IM apps, Google Desktop, Picasa, and other apps all let you cleanly exit from them. TiVo should be no different.


I agree wholeheartedly.

This smacks of software being designed for the average consumer yutz who does'nt have or want the understanding of how Windows works, etc. TiVo developers have made it so that it's less likely that a l-user will break things in a way that makes them call support, at the expense of giving power users the flexibility they desire.

I use my TiVo Desktop features *rarely*. When I might want to use them, I want a program icon that I can click on. I know of certain fact that TiVo Desktop could be launched this way... "on demand". But, I'm guessing that the Dev guys realized that to offer such an option to the customers would only make sense if one could reasonably expect that the user know and understand the consequence of making a choice (during install?) to NOT have the services running in the background. Otherwise, lots of support calls complaining about it not working from people who forgot or didnt understand that they turned off some features and have to manually launch them for certain functionality. 

You know, I'm going to go and dig around and set up my own TiVo Desktop Launcher. Shouldn't be hard at all... dig the command line parameter string out of the registry for the service(s), a little script to string the 2 or 3 applet launch bits together in the correct sequence and voila! 

Then, when *I WANT* to use the software I can, and otherwise it will not use up resources.

Yeah, I like that idea.


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

Dan203 said:


> Are you saying you actually want to get rid of the icon? Because the only way to do that is to end task on TiVoNotify.exe, and if you do that you wont be able to restart the server until you reboot.


That's not true.

I rarely use TiVo Desktop and I have everything TiVo-related stuff off on my computer unless I need it. I have TivoBeacon set to manual start in the Services applet and when I want to run TiVoDesktop, I first (manually) start up TiVoBeacon from the Services applet and then start up TiVo Desktop. Before selecting programs to transfer, I start the server from the menu.

When I'm done transferring files, I shut down TiVo Desktop and then exit the program in the Notify bar. I then manually kill everything start starts with the name "Tivo" in the task manager.

When I want to transfer again, I just restart the Beacon etc...


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## cs8100 (Aug 18, 2006)

Amnesia said:


> That's not true.
> 
> I rarely use TiVo Desktop and I have everything TiVo-related stuff off on my computer unless I need it. I have TivoBeacon set to manual start in the Services applet and when I want to run TiVoDesktop, I first (manually) start up TiVoBeacon from the Services applet and then start up TiVo Desktop. Before selecting programs to transfer, I start the server from the menu.
> 
> ...


Thanks for this info! I knew it was possible, just needed someone to step-by-step it for me! Does TivoBeacon start Tivotransfer and TivoNotify?

cs


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## Amnesia (Jan 30, 2005)

Something does---I don't know if it's TiVoBeacon or starting the server from within TiVo Desktop. I plan to transfer something in the next few days and I'll try to remember to check.


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## slilley (Feb 11, 2006)

I just wanted to express my disapproval with this change in Tivo Desktop 2.3. I use Tivo Desktop very rarely on my "work" PC, and I don't like things running that can't easily be disabled. Tivo, if you are listening: this was not a good change IMHO. 

Regards,
Steve


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

I am now running desktop 2.5.1 with a Plus key. At this time, what services can be stopped that do not need to be started up? I transfer often, and soon will use TD to transfer back from the PC. I also will be doing conversions on most items when I transfer them.

I usually just stop TiVoServer and fire that up when I want to listen to music. What else can I stop. I am still a little confused, even after reading this thread.


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## JTYoung1 (Aug 13, 2006)

The combined system resources used by the Tivo Server/Desktop programs are just slightly more than Internet Explorer and less than Windows Explorer and Firefox. Why do you need to disable it?


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

JTYoung1 said:


> The combined system resources used by the Tivo Server/Desktop programs are just slightly more than Internet Explorer and less than Windows Explorer and Firefox.


If that's meant to make it sound lightweight, you might want to rethink your comparison.



> _Why do you need to disable it?_


Why should it be running all the time, when we only want to use it once in a blue moon? That's just a godawful, spyware-style software design. :down:

Never mind that it seems to be completely unusable by non-Administrators. :down:


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

Even though I have ~1gb of mem in my computer, it is about a 3 year old dell. Any and all overhead I can cut out until needed is a + in my book. But I usually don't disable it unless my wife is going to be doing some ebay bidding.


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## jeremy3721 (Feb 16, 2002)

Any updates on this? I just ran a bootlog program and TivoNotify/Serve take over 80 seconds each to run.

My computer freezed a lot (probably becaue of iTunes) and these are precious minutes I'd like reclaim.


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## DrWho453 (Jul 16, 2005)

here are some batch files that will start and stop the tivo files. It works with 2.5 and may work with 2.3. As long as the directories are the same it should work otherwise they will need to have the directory structure changed to the location of the tivo files.

Just unzip the files to the desktop. You can then use them to stop and start the files. This does not stop them from loading on boot up. But it does make it easy to stop and start the files.


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## 250 Coupe (Jan 21, 2008)

The file DrWho posted is probably the same thing but I use flyersfan's batch file to stop and restart the services.

You can edit it to two files, one to stop and one to start.

I added the part that clears the cache as it took longer to open the desktop than I was willing to wait.

Michael


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## DrWho453 (Jul 16, 2005)

Yep the files are pretty much the same. Its in a zip file because you can't post batch files to the forum so I have one start tivo and one stop tivo in the zip file.


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## jlb (Dec 13, 2001)

DrWho (and anyone else),

Is the TiVo Transfer necessary for all transfers, or is it a process that just listens for automated transfers?

IIRC, I think I may have previously stopped the process thinking that it was just for auto transfers. If so, I assume I can just edit the batch file and take out the lines that would start it back up.....right?


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## DrWho453 (Jul 16, 2005)

I am not sure what the tivo transfer file does. You have to have it running to run the tivo server however you can download files through the Web browser with tivo transfer turned off.


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## Ziggie (Jan 20, 2004)

Dan203 said:


> They did this because it's sort of a central repository for feedback from the various peices of the TiVo Desktop software. This little icon gives you feedback on transfers and conversions as well as the status of the server, so it makes sense that they would make it persistant. Although I guess they could offer the option to hide it.
> 
> In any case you can hide it yourself by simply right clicking on a blank area of the task bar and clicking "Properties". Now check "Hide inactive icons" and click "Customize". Now click on the TiVo icon and select "Always Hide" from the drop down menu. That will make it so it's always hidden unless you press the little expand arrow.
> 
> Dan


Just the answer I was looking for! :up:


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## Puppy76 (Oct 7, 2004)

Regarding Tivo Transfer, I think that's the program/process that actually handles transfers when done by Tivo Desktop (not needed for the web interface). You can close Tivo Desktop, and it keeps transfering, and slight CPU time is shown on that process.

Actually I make it a habit to ALWAYS close Tivo Desktop the instant I'm done selecting shows to transfer, as I often have Tivo Desktop crash on me, and that usually screws up the transfers. In fact it's always half crashed just by selecting my shows and hitting transfer.


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