Not sure which forum this should go to,how to backup a dvr

[Onceler2]

I am thinking of getting the direct tv HD dvr but I am wondering if anyone knoew how to backup the hard drive from one of these and make it readable to a computer
I would like to think that if I got a larger hd to swap in there that I could get the shows off of it without degrading the video quality anymore than when it got recorded
Thanks

[Krispy Kritter]

Most of the time, a PC cannot read a HDD from a DVR. Some DVR's allow the installation of a second HDD and some allow you to connect an external HDD via firewire or USB. In which case, you existing drive may still be usable.

[yoda313]

Also some may allow ESATA connections for external harddrives.

However whether or not your particular model has activated the feature is the big question.

Yes firewire should work but depending on the encryption protocol of the box it might be very difficult to get meaningful extractions.

Also an external harddrive would be formatted to the cable/sat box format and not be a windows or mac type harddrive anymore. In other words don't think it will be easy to just drag and drop the files off the external onto your computer.