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Transferring DVR recordings to PC

rcpratt

rcpratt

Lifer
I think this is the right place for this question.

Is there any possible method by which I can transfer the HD programming that I record on my DVR (Comcast, currently) to my PC so that I can convert it to .mkv or whatnot and add it to my collection?

The only workaround to this if it's not possible, I assume, would be to buy a tuner card for my PC and record directly on there. That would be more expensive and require an extra cable box, which would be nice to avoid.
 
I believe the Hauppauge HD PVR is the only HD solution other than a cable card and cable-card tuner. If you had a PC connected to the TV, you wouldn't need the cable card plus a cable box; you could do all the viewing through the PC (for live TV and recordings).
 
kalrith said:
I believe the Hauppauge HD PVR is the only HD solution other than a cable card and cable-card tuner. If you had a PC connected to the TV, you wouldn't need the cable card plus a cable box; you could do all the viewing through the PC (for live TV and recordings).
Click to expand...

I have an HD PVR and it works very well. Just be prepared to spend extra money for better software and/or plugins.
 
gah, so there's no way to get the recorded shows off my comcast DVR? My DVR is acting up and I have to replace it, but I dont want to lose some of the shows I have recorded
 
Aharami said:
gah, so there's no way to get the recorded shows off my comcast DVR? My DVR is acting up and I have to replace it, but I dont want to lose some of the shows I have recorded
Click to expand...

The only way to get them in HD is the afore-mentioned Hauppauge HD PVR. If you don't need them in HD, then you could get them off of there with a $20 SD video-capture device. Also, if your hard drive fails, then there's no way to get the shows off of there. When I was with Dish Network I had 2-3 hard drives fail, and we lost all of our recordings each time. It really sucked!
 
If it has firewire I think you can copy it from there directly. Otherwise you're SOL.

Even if you took the HD out and tried to manually extract them, you can't because they will be encrypted.
 
Well that rather blows, frankly. Guess I'll keep having to use other methods to get content on my PC...
 
Shouldn't you just be able to open the DVR, attach the HDD to your PC and copy the video files over to your PC? Is there nothing to decrypt them?
 
Hmmmm .... thanks for the quick reply.

Too bad there isn't someone out there that figured out the algorithm's and released a decryption tool of some kind.

Someone PM me if such a thing exists 😀

EDIT: One last question on this same topic. Are you able to hook up a DVD recorder to the DVR and record stait to DVD?
 
Last edited:
AMDZen said:
Hmmmm .... thanks for the quick reply.

Too bad there isn't someone out there that figured out the algorithm's and released a decryption tool of some kind.

Someone PM me if such a thing exists 😀

EDIT: One last question on this same topic. Are you able to hook up a DVD recorder to the DVR and record stait to DVD?
Click to expand...

don't think that will work.
 
AMDZen said:
Are you able to hook up a DVD recorder to the DVR and record stait to DVD?
Click to expand...

Actually you should be able to do that. You'll just have to play the show on the DVR with the outputs connected to the inputs on the DVD recorder. I really don't see why it wouldn't work.

Edit: A DVD recorder is just a capture device like the Hauppauge HD PVR, but it writes to a DVD instead of a hard drive. Some DVRs in the past have even come with DVD recorders for this very purpose.
 
kalrith said:
Actually you should be able to do that. You'll just have to play the show on the DVR with the outputs connected to the inputs on the DVD recorder. I really don't see why it wouldn't work.

Edit: A DVD recorder is just a capture device like the Hauppauge HD PVR, but it writes to a DVD instead of a hard drive. Some DVRs in the past have even come with DVD recorders for this very purpose.
Click to expand...

I read it as connecting a USB DVD Burner on the PVR and use DVDrs to record tv 😛

<=== idiot
 
kalrith said:
Actually you should be able to do that. You'll just have to play the show on the DVR with the outputs connected to the inputs on the DVD recorder. I really don't see why it wouldn't work.

Edit: A DVD recorder is just a capture device like the Hauppauge HD PVR, but it writes to a DVD instead of a hard drive. Some DVRs in the past have even come with DVD recorders for this very purpose.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks guys. My dad has a DVD recorder so I will try this out
 
nickbits said:
If it has firewire I think you can copy it from there directly. Otherwise you're SOL.

Even if you took the HD out and tried to manually extract them, you can't because they will be encrypted.
Click to expand...

This. Assuming that you rent it from your service provider, if it doesn't have firewire, you might be able to contact your service provider ask them for a unit that does have firewire (they're required to provide you one by the FCC) and ask them if they'll transfer the videos from your old DVR to your new one. I don't know if this is even possible, but it's worth a shot.

If that doesn't work, the DVD recorder option will definitely work. As posted above, you just play the show on your DVR with the DVD recorder hooked up to it as if you were going to watch it normally and set the DVD recorder to record from your DVR. As long as the DVD recorder has a matching input to your DVR's outputs, it will work fine.
 
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