Q: My two-year-old TiVo DVR (digital video recorder) is beginning to make strange noises, and I'm worried that I'll lose all my recorded TV shows if it fails. Can I back up those TV programs on a separate hard drive?
Jonathan Sutton, Minneapolis
A: It could have a failing hard drive or a worn-out cooling fan (see tinyurl.com/t4xkz69). The fan is easy to replace (see tinyurl.com/wn6t3ur). But the hard drive is more difficult, particularly if you want to save the TV shows recorded on it.
Why? Some TV shows recorded on a TiVo can't be copied to another hard drive because of copyright restrictions. Backups are difficult.
Here are some options:
• Back up your old TiVo's hard drive to the hard drive on a new TiVo via the internet. This only works for some newer TiVo models (see explore.tivo.com/how-to/transfer).
• Back up your TiVo's hard drive to a standard external hard drive, then replace the hard drive inside the TiVo. This works, but it gives your TiVo a split personality. In the future, it will record a show simultaneously on both its own hard drive and the external one (see tinyurl.com/qw5ru9l and scroll down to "external hard drive.")
• Copy your recorded TiVo shows to your PC or Mac via Wi-Fi by using the "TiVo Desktop" program. After replacing the TiVo hard drive, send the shows back to the TiVo. There are two problems with this method: You need a computer with a lot of unused hard drive space (TiVo recommends 5 gigabytes of disk space for the transfer and an additional 5 gigabytes for every hour of high-definition TV you want to store.) In addition, TiVo Desktop can be confusing (for example, the TiVo-to-PC transfer is ordered through the PC, but PC-to-TiVo transfer is ordered through the TiVo.) To automatically download TiVo Desktop, go to tinyurl.com/rlg7ajz and click on the "TiVo Desktop" link. (Then see transfer details at tinyurl.com/qw5ru9l).
