# HD died & Lifetime activation



## turbo38sfi (Apr 17, 2004)

My Tivo HD finally died. I upgraded it years ago and was running it with 2 hard drives. My unit was also a lifetime activation.

What are my options to get a new HD and keep my lifetime sub?

Tivo want's $150 for a reman'd 80 hr unit. I was under the impression if I didn't have a backup of my original hd I was SOL?

Thanks,


----------



## Narf54321 (Mar 30, 2005)

Look up *Instant Cake*.


----------



## maharg18 (Dec 4, 2002)

The lifetime activation is tied to a chip on the motherboard, so you can change hard drives without affecting your lifetime status.


----------



## turbo38sfi (Apr 17, 2004)

Great to know. Is there a way to step up to a DT box?

Also wondering about recovering any shows I had on my existing, dead hard drives?


----------



## dschoner (Feb 2, 2005)

On a similar note, I have a lifetime subscription to TiVo on a Sony SAT- T-60, with 2 X 160 GB hdd's in it - I would like to upgrade to a Series 2 I've got in the closet ready to go - does anyone know who I can call to see if the lifetime subscription can be transferred to the Series 2 ?

Thank You in advance......

Post updated -
Easy as 1 call to 1-800-DirecTV - no card needed, tech asked for the numbers associated with the new Series 2, directed me to take the card out of the Series 1, slip it into the Series 2, hook up all cables, then power it up. Poof ! ! ! We now have a Series 2 Hughes SD-DVR40 with 2 X 200 GB drives - WOO HOO ! ! !


----------



## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

To upgrade a Lifetime S2 Standalone to a DT, you have to ask TiVo about that.

If the drive is totally dead, no-go. Otherwise try dd_rescue to copy from the bad drive to a known good one. The thing to do now is to freeze the drive in your freezer before attempting a recover.

For the Sat-T60, the Lifetime is on the account, not the DVR, so in theory, you should be able to just swap it with another DirecTV TiVo DVR.


----------



## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

turbo38sfi said:


> Great to know. Is there a way to step up to a DT box?


Yes, you buy one and start paying for it monthly or prepay for 1, 2, or 3 years of service. Tivo's generous $150 offer will get you as similar a model as they have to yours. Getting a DT out of them is not going to happen.


----------



## jhhyde (Dec 31, 2001)

Classicsat:

The thing to do now is to freeze the drive in your freezer before attempting a recover.




Classicsat or someone in the know:

You said something about putting the hard drive in the freezer. Could you give me some more info on this? I have never heard of this before.


----------



## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

All I know is you put the drive in the freezer for a while to let get as cold as possible, then connect it an a target drive in your PC to copy the drive ASAP, then bin the old drive.


----------



## Simba7 (Jun 25, 2006)

I've done this with my bad Toshiba 60Gb laptop drive to recover my pictures. Works well, but you need to be FAST.


----------



## Virt (Jun 3, 2002)

jhhyde said:


> Classicsat:
> 
> The thing to do now is to freeze the drive in your freezer before attempting a recover.
> 
> ...


Google is your friend...

Keep in mind, no guarantee it will actually work and you should use a ziplock bag around the drive prior to freezer.

Be fast if you really want a chance it it possibly working. You better do lots of reading before even attempting such a feat.

There are companies out there who do offer data recovery services. Google can help you with that too...

200 ways to revive a hard drive - http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-1035_11-5029761.html


----------

