Factory TivoHD+WD expander. How to backup please?

[jeffw_00]

I have a factory TivoHD + WD Expander. I've never opened the box. Warranty is over now.

I want to turn off the unit, pull the main drive, hook it to my WinXP PC, backup the drive (not the programs though), and put the drive back, so that when (it's always "when" with hard drives) the drive dies, I can simply buy a new drive, restore the backup to it, put the new drive into the box, and be back in business.

People say "use winmfs" but winmfs seems designed primarily for upgrades, and supposedly "doesn't work" (no explanations given) if you have the expander.

Though i haven't ventured into this space since I backed up my S-1 years ago, I have to believe that there is a tool out there that will do a simple backup, Expander-or-not.

Can anyone help me? (and please don't just send me to a website - please take me as far as which program to run, and what command to look up and use, if you know).

and please don't post if you don't really know. A number of replies makes it look like i got an answer (sorry, I'm grumpy today - got a cold) 8-}

Thanks very much!
/j

[Resist]

Why not just buy a new drive that is already formatted for your Tivo now? I got my new upgrade drive for my Series 3 on ebay from a one of our forum members. Yes I could have done the process myself but considering how inexpensive the same drive from him was and the fact that it saved me the bother, I couldn't pass it up.

[jeffw_00]

Ummm.. -let's see
1) I want to backup MY TiVo, with MY settings, etc., to make a restore a snap
2) I want to deal with it myself, and buy whatever drive I want
3) I don't want to maximize my cash outlay. 8-}

No offense, but i did politely ask that you not post if you can't answer my question. I really just want to backup my disk NOW, so I can restore it easily later. I'm well aware that if I don't do this, there ARE other options if my disk dies. However, that wasn't my question.

Thanks in advance for your kind help.
/j

[Resist]

Well you aren't going to be able to backup your settings. And only certain drives will work with your Tivo. It would have only saved me like $20, doing the whole process myself.

[HomeUser]

You should be able to use WinMFS or MFSLive with the -f 9999 option and make the backup without saving recordings (keeps Settings and Season passes) to a file.

I have used MFSLive 1.3b to make a 300M truncated backup from a Series 3 that has an external drive. I then tested the backup by restoring it to a new single drive. The TiVo booted without problem the settings were there and the cable cards still worked. You will have to delete the now empty recordings that are listed in "Now Playing" on the new drive to clean things up.

I have not used WinMFS I would think the current release would work also.

[richsadams]

Ummm.. -let's see
1) I want to backup MY TiVo, with MY settings, etc., to make a restore a snap
2) I want to deal with it myself, and buy whatever drive I want
3) I don't want to maximize my cash outlay. 8-}

No offense, but i did politely ask that you not post if you can't answer my question. I really just want to backup my disk NOW, so I can restore it easily later. I'm well aware that if I don't do this, there ARE other options if my disk dies. However, that wasn't my question.

Thanks in advance for your kind help.
/j:rolleyes:

[jeffw_00]

I have used MFSLive 1.3b to make a 300M truncated backup from a Series 3 that has an external drive. I then tested the backup by restoring it to a new single drive. The TiVo booted without problem the settings were there and the cable cards still worked. You will have to delete the now empty recordings that are listed in "Now Playing" on the new drive to clean things up.
.

was the external drive a plug-and-play WD expander? apparently it makes a difference
thanks!
/j