What is WinMFS?

Enter WinMFS — a Windows utility to upgrade your TiVo drive. It’s still in Beta (currently build 8), but we decided to give it a whirl. With an eye towards quiet and cool operation, we ordered up a 750 GB Western Digital GreenPower drive, fired up our Windows computer and got underway. Preparation.

How do I use WinMFS?

  1. Step 1: Buy a bigger drive.
  2. Step 2: Download WinMFS.
  3. Step 3: Connect the drives to your PC.
  4. Step 4: Boot your PC and run WinMFS.
  5. Step 5: Run WinMFS, Troubleshoot the formatting of your New Drive so it shows up in WinMFS (in my case).
  6. Step 6: Wait Patiently.
  7. Step 7: Select “Yes” to expand the drive.

How to clone TiVo hard drive?

Clone New disk Shut down your PC, and connect up both the Old and New disks. Boot up, and run WinMFS. You should now be able to see both the Old (TiVo) disk and New (blank) disk. In WinMFS, run the Clone Disk command to copy from the Old to the New disk.

How to Upgrade TiVo BOLT hard drive?

There are currently two methods being used to upgrade/replace TiVo Bolt HDDs. One is replacing the internal 2.5″ drive, the other is using a 3.5″ drive by drilling a hole in the casing and using a sata extension cable and providing an external power source as well as a separate housing.

What hard drives does TiVo use?

TiVo BOLT & EDGE: This requires purchase of a 2.5″ hard drive. The current recommended model, in terms of cost, is a Seagate ST2000LM015 for 2TB and a Seagate ST4000LM024 for 4TB.

Can you put an SSD in a TiVo?

Having done the nuclear option, did Tivo detect and use the entire SSD available to it. I went from 500GB to 1TB.

Can you add an external hard drive to TiVo?

What external storage devices does TiVo support for use with HD TiVo boxes? The DVR Expander from Western Digital is the only TiVo Verified external storage device supported for use with TiVo devices. TiVo is not responsible for the results of any attempt to add an unsupported external storage device.

What format is a TiVo hard drive?

TiVo uses a non-standard, at least in the PC world, format for their hard drives. Your friend will have to use fdisk to delete the partition then recreate it as a FAT partition. Either the Linux or DOS-based fdisk will take care of it.

Can you add external storage to TiVo bolt?

Permanently Removing the DVR Expander Removing the DVR Expander does not allow you to play your recordings on a different TiVo box. Because each recording is distributed equally between the DVR’s internal drive and the DVR Expander, you cannot gain additional storage by using more than one DVR Expander.

How do I unlock my DVR hard drive?

How to Unlock/Connect a DVR on a Windows PC

  1. Remove the screw at the edge of an empty drive bay inside the computer, near its top edge, using the screwdriver.
  2. Pull the power plug and data cable plug out of the drive bay.
  3. Insert the drive tray back into the drive bay and reattach the screw.