# Temporary backup of Tivo Drive



## Norman Ziegelmeyer (Jan 29, 2017)

Can the Tivo Drive be backed up to any adequately sized Drive for storage and then restored to a specific model of Drive to be reinstalled into the Tivo? I have a number of 2.5 inch drives of various sizes and manufacturers that have been collected over the years and not being used. I would like to use them for temporary tivo system backups. Thanks


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Look at DvrBARS. It will back it up to a file that can be stored anywhere. But yes, you can clone the original drive that is at least the same size as the original drive and save it for a back up.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

You can also download the (not copy-protected) shows to your computer with KMTTG, PyTivo... Depending on if your Tivo is running v21.+, you would not be able to transfer the shows back (feature removed). Otherwise, on v20.7x, this feature is still available.

KMTTG can also backup and restore passes. These must have the Tivo drive still in the Tivo DVR running. It would be transferred over your network. 

With DVRBars, MFSTools, you must shut off the Tivo and remove the drive, hook up to the computer to do the backups/restores.


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## Norman Ziegelmeyer (Jan 29, 2017)

jmbach said:


> Look at DvrBARS. It will back it up to a file that can be stored anywhere. But yes, you can clone the original drive that is at least the same size as the original drive and save it for a back up.


Thanks


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## Norman Ziegelmeyer (Jan 29, 2017)

ThAbtO said:


> You can also download the (not copy-protected) shows to your computer with KMTTG, PyTivo... Depending on if your Tivo is running v21.+, you would not be able to transfer the shows back (feature removed). Otherwise, on v20.7x, this feature is still available.
> 
> KMTTG can also backup and restore passes. These must have the Tivo drive still in the Tivo DVR running. It would be transferred over your network.
> 
> With DVRBars, MFSTools, you must shut off the Tivo and remove the drive, hook up to the computer to do the backups/restores.


Thanks


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Norman Ziegelmeyer said:


> Can the Tivo Drive be backed up to any adequately sized Drive for storage and then restored to a specific model of Drive to be reinstalled into the Tivo? I have a number of 2.5 inch drives of various sizes and manufacturers that have been collected over the years and not being used. I would like to use them for temporary tivo system backups. Thanks


Since you mentioned 2.5" drives that are used by the Bolt and Edge, these two model Tivos will not preserve the recordings from another hard drive. It's my understanding that if the Bolt or Edge detect a new hard drive, the new hard drive is formatted and none of the previous recordings will be available.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

shwru980r said:


> Since you mentioned 2.5" drives that are used by the Bolt and Edge, these two model Tivos will not preserve the recordings from another hard drive. It's my understanding that if the Bolt or Edge detect a new hard drive, the new hard drive is formatted and none of the previous recordings will be available.


I am not sure about the Edge, but a direct clone or an MFS copy of Bolt drive will retain recordings.


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## Norman Ziegelmeyer (Jan 29, 2017)

shwru980r said:


> Since you mentioned 2.5" drives that are used by the Bolt and Edge, these two model Tivos will not preserve the recordings from another hard drive. It's my understanding that if the Bolt or Edge detect a new hard drive, the new hard drive is formatted and none of the previous recordings will be available.


Thanks. I'm not really interested in saving any recordings, only the system so I could recover from a hard drive failure without losing Passes and cable card pairing.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Norman Ziegelmeyer said:


> Thanks. I'm not really interested in saving any recordings, only the system so I could recover from a hard drive failure without losing Passes and cable card pairing.


I think you would lose the cable card pairing and season pass information if the Bolt doesn't recognize the backup drive. The previous message states that if you performed a direct clone or MFS copy from the current drive to the backup drive then everything would be preserved. The trouble is, there is no way to verify it. If you install another drive and the Bolt doesn't recognize it as the previous drive, then the Bolt will format that drive and it becomes the current drive and your previous drive will no longer be recognized if you try to install it again.


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## Norman Ziegelmeyer (Jan 29, 2017)

shwru980r said:


> I think you would lose the cable card pairing and season pass information if the Bolt doesn't recognize the backup drive. The previous message states that if you performed a direct clone or MFS copy from the current drive to the backup drive then everything would be preserved. The trouble is, there is no way to verify it. If you install another drive and the Bolt doesn't recognize it as the previous drive, then the Bolt will format that drive and it becomes the current drive and your previous drive will no longer be recognized if you try to install it again.


What would you suggest to achieve my goal?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

You should use KMTTG for the backup of the passes. It would not backup the card pairing, but that is negligible.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Norman Ziegelmeyer said:


> What would you suggest to achieve my goal?


Try both. Clone or MFS copy to a second drive and back up season passes with KMTTG.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

Note that DvrBARS has a 2TB drive limit even in the Full Backup mode.


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