# Tivo Desktop or server will not start



## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Not sure what happened, but I can't get Tivo Desktop to start.

Had 2.5.1 installed - when started, Tivodesktop.exe would go to 99% but never start.

Tivo server icon in the taskbar has a red x through it. I cannot restart the Tivo server or open Tivo Desktop. If I try to open up Tivo Desktop from the program list, it just hangs.

If I try to start the Tivo server manually, I get:

"The service did not respond to the start or control request in a timely fashion"

I have deleted the cache, uninstalled 2.5.1, installed 2.6.1, uninstalled 2.6.1, installed 2.5.1, upgraded my certificate, used the Tivo Desktop cleaner, etc.

Can't think of anything else to try. Anyone got any ideas?


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Well, found people with similar problems on the Tivo support forum. Uninstalled 2.5.1 and reinstalled 2.4. Everything seems to work fine again.

Some sort of WinXP / Tivo Desktop compatability problem I guess.

Kind of sucks, because I was looking forward to the new functionality in 2.6


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## hughv (Nov 20, 2006)

Same here with 2.6.1
It sucks up 100&#37; of the CPU and never starts.
XP Home.


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## rgiaquinta (May 1, 2008)

After hours of research reboots and reinstalls, I found a solution to the server "will not start in a timely manner" / tivo desktop will not start problem, though I lost track of the forum where I found the info.

Here's the basics: tivo sever scans all files in the videos folder before starting. If there's a corrupt file or too many files in your video folder, the server and tivo desktop will hang on start.

Simply empty the videos folder, or rename the videos temporarily to something else, or move or delete suspect files, and tivo desktop and server should start.

This worked for me, though I simultaneously removed then reinstalled the tivo software as well, though I'm not sure that part was necessary.


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## Enchilada (Jul 23, 2002)

Wow that so totally worked... somone should make this a sticky.

All I did was rename my videos folder. Problem solved.


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## sethw (Dec 27, 2008)

Enchilada said:


> Wow that so totally worked... somone should make this a sticky.
> 
> All I did was rename my videos folder. Problem solved.


Renaming the folder did not work for me as a single step.

I tried removing the software (2.6.2, installed after previous versions) through add/remove programs and then going through the registry and changing all of the Tivo-related keys to "xTivo" so they would be installed again. That didn't work. It still got hung up. I saw multiple TivoServer.exe threads running using Process Explorer, which I thought was weird, but I have no idea if that was related to this problem or not.

I used the Tivo LogFinder because I was going to start looking through the logs to see if they would help. When I did that, I saw that Tivo was storing stuff in the Application Data folder for my user.

So I removed the software again, but left the registry keys alone (i.e. I didn't go into the registry and change them all again). After I removed the software, I then renamed this folder:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\TiVo Desktop

to xxiVo Desktop. <username> would be replaced by the name of the user running the TiVo software, obviously.

I installed the software, re-entered my ID, and then things started up normally.

So the TiVo uninstall leaves stuff behind. If you find yourself going down this path, I recommend also making sure you rename the Application Data folder after you uninstall the TiVo software. Before you do any of this, you might try creating a new user account, and then running the TiVo software from that account to see if it makes a difference since the Application Data folder shouldn't be shared between users. If it works when using the new account, but not using the old user account, then that kind of points to something associated with the user account as the problem (not necessarily the user, although that could be, too, I guess).

Note that the Local Settings folder is a hidden folder. In Windows Explorer, Tools / Folder Options... / View, click on "Show hidden files and folders" under Advanced settings.

Good luck. I know the lack of information on this was pretty frustrating for me. I lived for a while with this problem (sometimes it would start, sometimes not), but it finally broke down completely last night and forced me to figure something out.

At least I hope I figured something out.


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## corrp432 (May 27, 2008)

I was having the same issue with ver2.6.2. The desktop would not load and I had the red X on the server icon.  

Found this topic using the search function.

First I moved all my videos to a new folder, (only 107GB worth of kids shows), 
that didn't work. Restarted the computer and tried again, no luck still.
Cleared the cache files and restarted the computer again.

This time the TD started right up, the server came on and continued to transfer some more of the kids shows!

Sweet..

Thanks for the info!


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## fishguy (Nov 13, 2003)

Even though it is about 3 years later, Sethw is correct. After uninstall, delete the the Application Data folder, and re-install.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

fishguy said:


> Even though it is about 3 years later, Sethw is correct. After uninstall, delete the the Application Data folder, and re-install.


TiVo has a program called TiVo Desktop Cleaner that's designed to be run after uninstalling Desktop. I think it's supposed to take care of stuff like that and registry entries.

It says it's for versions prior to the current one, but I've uninstalled the current TVD version and run Cleaner before re-installing with no ill effects.


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