[rad1701]

I have a Roamio Plus that's about 5 years old and has been pretty rock solid. I was thinking of dropping in a 3TB drive but I've got a ton of stuff on my original drive unit that I haven't watched yet. Is it possible to swap in a new drive and use the current drive externally on the TIVO via a USB HD box for me to still access those other recordings? Or, is there a way to pull the recordings off on to my PC via a USB box? I know I could download them ahead of the drive swap, but there's a lot on it. Thoughts?

 

[ThAbtO]

Tivo does not work the same way as a computer. You run a bigger risk of losing shows, and even the hard drive. The way Tivo works with internal and external drives is they get merged together and shows recorded are stored on both drives at the same time (parts on internal and parts on external.) USB hard drives does not work on Tivos.

You would be better to download/transfer shows to PC and either just store them on a hard drive/NAS for long term storage, transfer back when you like to watch. Programs like PyTivo allows to transfer to/from Tivo, you would need to 'call' the show to transfer (off PC) from the Tivo Shows list.

Other programs like KMTTG allows you to transfer from Tivo (not to it), but it allows batch downloads, although transfers happen one at a time. You can also save passes and other features. (Better than online.tivo.com)

New program for 1 step TTG downloads, decryption, encoding - kmttg

 

[kpeters59]

Clone your Hard Drive using a Cloning Dock and then follow the instructions for expanding it in the Upgrade Forum.

-KP

 

[rad1701]

Thanks guys for the replies. I've been tempted by all the sales on Bolts and TIVO Edge, but people seem to have issues with those units and my Roamio has been pretty great.

One related question. Is it better in the long run to just drop a bigger drive into the box rather than an external extra storage drive?

 

[JoeKustra]

One related question. Is it better in the long run to just drop a bigger drive into the box rather than an external extra storage drive?

Yes Yes Yes.

 

[ThAbtO]

Is it better in the long run to just drop a bigger drive into the box rather than an external extra storage drive?

With Tivo, there is no such thing as 'Extra storage' drive.