# Can I use a hard drive recovery software to get TV shows off TIVO hard drive?



## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

Can I use a hard drive recovery software to get TV shows off TIVO hard drive?

My TIVO is unable to connect to the network. 

Can I use some kind of data recovery or forensic data software to recover everything from the hard drive including TV shows. 

I can view current recordings just fine on my TIVO however it won't connect to the network or respond to the codes for force a firmware reinstall or play/record anything from live TV. 

Thanks.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

No, That is called extraction and cannot be discussed any where in this forum.

All the shows is encoded and to be able to get them, you have to download from the Tivo itself over the network.


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## Johnny Danger (Dec 27, 2016)

ThAbtO said:


> No, That is called extraction and cannot be discussed any where in this forum.
> 
> All the shows is encoded and to be able to get them, you have to download from the Tivo itself over the network.


Unfortunately my TIVO does not seem to be able to connect over the network anymore. I even manually input the network settings but that does not work either. think my best option would be to do a fresh install using new hard drive.

I would like to backup the data and perhaps reload the show back on the TIVO. I don't know why that would be objectionable to anyone.

Can you refer me to another forum/website or private message me if you know anything about extraction that might help me? I am just trying to preserve my recordings before I do a fresh install with a new hard drive to try to fix my recently nonfunctional TIVO.

Thanks.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Extraction means getting the shows directly off the drive without the Tivo operating. This would include copy protected shows. The discussion on how to do that is banned on here, per the rules. Enough said. 

If your Tivo cannot connect by the network, the only other way is to use adapter cable through the video outputs and play each one and recording it on another device. You may lose quality, and Closed captions (if wanted and needs to be enabled). Tedious task as it needs to be tended to.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

What model TiVo is it? There might be alternative ways to have it connect to the network.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

TiVo recordings are stored in a unique format that isn't understood by any conventional drive recovery software, never mind that they're encrypted in a way that's tied to a motherboard-specific ID.

It would probably be easier to fix your network issue.


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

Johnny Danger said:


> I can view current recordings just fine on my TIVO however it won't connect to the network or respond to the codes for force a firmware reinstall or play/record anything from live TV.


Not only is your network hosed, but it won't record anything either? I don't think I've ever heard of both happening at once. Is this from a lightning strike or something?



jmbach said:


> What model TiVo is it? There might be alternative ways to have it connect to the network.





wmcbrine said:


> It would probably be easier to fix your network issue.


Agreed. What model of TiVo do you have? e.g. My Roamio Plus and Bolt are both connected via Ethernet. However, they both also have the option of using Wi-Fi or MoCA. Maybe trying another method would fix your networking and allow you to copy your programs off. I don't think my old TiVoHD had built-in Wi-Fi or MoCA, I just used ethernet, but I think there was an external Wi-Fi adapter available.


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