How to use your PC to download videos to your TiVo^® DVR

With TiVo Desktop software, you can use your TiVo DVR to watch videos stored on your PC. And with TiVo Desktop Plus software, you get the added benefit of having your favorite personal videos and video podcasts delivered right to your Now Playing List automatically.

Your TiVo DVR must be connected to your home network in order to download videos using your PC. See how To connect your TiVo DVR to your home network and the Internet for instructions.

Watching videos from your PC on your TiVo DVR with TiVo Desktop software

With TiVo Desktop, you can access videos stored in the “My TiVo Recordings” folder on your PC and transfer them to your TiVo DVR for viewing.

Show the steps

On your PC, verify that TiVo Desktop is installed and operational. If you have not yet installed TiVo Desktop, download and install the latest version before continuing.

Locate the videos on your PC that you’d like to view on your TiVo DVR. These can be home movies, videos downloaded from the web, or any other video files, as long as they are either MPEG-2 or .tivo files. Other file formats require TiVo Desktop Plus (see below).

Copy these videos into the “My TiVo Recordings” folder inside the My Documents folder on your PC.

Launch TiVo Desktop. The videos you copied into the “My TiVo Recordings” folder should appear in TiVo Desktop’s Now Playing List.

See it

On your TiVo DVR, select “Now Playing List” from TiVo Central.

Select your PC. It is marked with the computer icon:

See it

Select any title.

See it

Choose “Transfer this recording” to start the transfer. When the transfer starts, you have the option of watching the video immediately, or choosing additional videos to transfer.

If you did not begin watching the video in Step 8, you can watch at any time from your Now Playing List.

Watching videos from your PC on your TiVo DVR with TiVo Desktop Plus software

With TiVo Desktop Plus, you don’t have to store your videos in “My TiVo Recordings” to access them from your TiVo DVR. Instead, you can access videos in any folder (like Podcast or music video folders) and watch them on your TiVo DVR. And, if you have video files or podcasts that automatically download to your PC, you can use TiVo Desktop Plus to deliver these videos directly to your TiVo DVR’s Now Playing List –automatically.

Show the steps

On your PC, verify that TiVo Desktop Plus version 2.6 or later is installed and operational. You can do this by selecting “About TiVo Desktop” from the Help menu. If you are using an earlier version of TiVo Desktop Plus, or if you have not yet upgraded, download and install the latest version before continuing.

If you are using TiVo Desktop and want to upgrade to TiVo Desktop Plus, purchase a license key.

Launch TiVo Desktop Plus.

Select the “Share Music, Photos, & Videos” icon.

Click the “Video” tab, then click “Add Video”.

See it

Select the folder containing the videos you want to add. These can be home movies, videos downloaded from the web, or any other video files, as long as they are one of the following formats:

• Windows Media Video (.wmv)
• QuickTime Movie (.mov)
• MPEG-4 / H.264 (.mp4, .m4v, .mp4v)
• MPEG-2
• DivX or Xvid (.avi, .divx, encoded with the DivX codec, version 4 or higher, or with the Xvid codec. No other video formats are supported within .AVI files.)
• .tivo files.

Click “Add.”

Note: You cannot select individual files within a folder.

On the “Video Folder Properties” popup window, set the folder properties, including:

• Whether to auto-transfer videos from this folder to your DVR
• How many videos from this folder to keep on the DVR (if auto-transferring)
• Which DVR(s) will get videos from this folder (if auto-transferring)

See it

Click “OK.”

To watch videos, go to your TiVo DVR’s Now Playing List, and do one of the following:

See it

• For videos contained in folders that are set to auto-transfer:
  • Select the folder you set up to auto-transfer.
  • Select your PC. It is marked with the computer icon:

See it

• For videos contain in folders that are NOT set to auto-transfer:
  • Select your PC. It is marked with the computer icon:
  • Select any title.
  • Choose “Transfer this recording” to start the transfer. When the transfer starts, you have the option of watching the video immediately, or choosing additional videos to transfer.
  • If you did not begin watching the video in Step 3, you can watch at any time from your Now Playing List.