# TiVo: Can I hook an external hard drive to it?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 4, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407 "2004-10-04T01:50:42Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Carnac\_the\_Magnificent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carnac_the_Magnificent)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407/1 "2004-10-04T01:50:42Z")

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I searched the archived wisdom from the SDMB brain trust. Nothing.

I have a TiVo Series 2, cable based unit. I want to store some television programs (not copyrighted movies) permanently, such as Now, with Bill Moyers, and certain PBS programs.

Two questions:

1. Can I hook an external hard drive to my TiVo?

2. Can I hook my PC to the TiVo and burn a CD/DVD copy, before deleting the stored programs from the TiVo?

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**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407/2 "2004-10-04T04:12:54Z")

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[Hacking The TiVo FAQ Index](http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/faq.html)

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**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407/3 "2004-10-04T05:07:24Z")

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There are a number of books to help you with your TiVo:

[http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-1622875-3547842](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-form/103-1622875-3547842)

Haj

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**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\
**Post date:** [October 4, 2004, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tivo-can-i-hook-an-external-hard-drive-to-it/267407/4 "2004-10-04T13:52:44Z")

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There is a company that I saw on “The Screen Savers” that sells (internal) hard drive upgrade kits for Tivos, and they’ll even install it for you if you want for an extra fee. The URL is [http://www.weaknees.com/](http://www.weaknees.com/)

I did not see external hard drives listed on their site, but I may have just missed it.