(175) TiVo Desktop for PC: Installation and uninstallation guide

System Requirements

Download TiVo Desktop for PC

Installing TiVo Desktop for PC

Changing where your TiVo Desktop programs are saved

Uninstalling TiVo Desktop for PC

 

System requirements for TiVo Desktop for PC

Minimum System Requirements for your PC

• 1 GHz P2 or equivalent processor
• 512 MB RAM
• 5 GB free disk space, plus an additional 1 to 3 GB for each hour of Standard Definition (SD) programming you transfer, depending on the quality of the recording.

Certain features of TiVo Desktop may require more computing resources than the basic features. These include

• Storage and playback of High Definition (HD) content
• Converting TiVo recordings to a portable format (requires TiVo Desktop Plus)
• Viewing web content on your TiVo box (requires TiVo Desktop Plus)

If you plan to use these features, we highly recommend the following:

• 2.2 GHz P4 or equivalent processor
• 1 GB RAM
• 5 GB free disk space, plus an additional 5GB for each hour of HD programming you transfer.

TiVo Desktop requires Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or later, Windows Vista, or Windows 7.

See the TiVo Desktop Read Me file after installation for more information.

 

Installing TiVo Desktop for PC

Use the instructions below to install TiVo Desktop on your Windows PC.

WARNING: Do not attempt to install or uninstall TiVo Desktop using the Windows Remote Desktop feature. The TiVo Desktop installation and uninstallation programs do not support Remote Access functionality. To install TiVo Desktop for Windows, you must have Administrator or Power User administrative rights on your computer.

1. If you have a previous version of TiVo Desktop installed on your PC, uninstall the previous version , and then use the TiVo Desktop Cleaner utility to remove portions of the program that may prevent you from installing the latest version of TiVo Desktop.

NOTE: TiVo Desktop Cleaner will not remove your Media Access Key or TiVo Desktop Plus key information.

2. Download the latest version of TiVo Desktop for PC.

3. If you are running J. River Media Center or Moodlogic, shut down the software before installing TiVo Desktop. Right-click on their respective icons in the Windows taskbar and choose “Exit.”

If you have installed any third-party TiVo Desktop plug-ins, including third-party WMA plug-ins or our own example plug-ins from the TiVo Desktop Plug-in SDK, they must be uninstalled before installing TiVo Desktop 2.7 or higher.

4. Verify that you are logged into Windows using an account with full administrator privileges, then double-click the TiVo Desktop installer icon.

NOTE: If you receive a Windows security message, select Run. If you encounter a warning message indicating a previous version of TiVo Desktop needs to uninstalled, see Uninstalling TiVo Desktop.

5. On the Welcome screen, click Next.

6. Read the License Agreement, and if you agree, click to select I accept the license agreement and then click Next.

NOTE: If you receive a message indicating that a Codec is Not Found, see What codecs are supported for playing TiVoToGo files on my PC?

7. Read the Readme Information and click Next.

8. Click Next if you want TiVo Desktop to be installed in the default location. Otherwise, click Browse and select the directory where you would like the application to install.

9. Enter your Media Access Key. Click Next to continue. You can find your Media Access Key in either of these two places:

From your TiVo box: From TiVo Central, go to Messages & Settings > Account & System Information > Media Access Key.

Online: Log into your My TiVo account, then click on the "Media Access Key" link on the right side of your screen.

10. Choose which Installation Options you want by checking or unchecking the boxes next to each option. Click Next to continue.

11. Read the Internet settings information and click Next to begin installation.

12. Approve any changes to your network or firewall settings that you are asked to accept during or immediately after the installation process.

13. Once installation is completed, click Finish.

14. If you have a firewall installed on your computer, make sure you allow the following applications:

• TiVoNotify.exe
• TiVoServer.exe
• TiVoTransfer.exe
• curl.exe
• Bonjour.exe or TiVoBeacon.exe

Refer to your firewall software or hardware manufacturer for information on how to do this.

15. Install a supported media player to play back the files that you transfer to your PC from your TiVo box. We recommend Microsoft Windows Media Player 11.

NOTE: You may be able to play files transferred to your PC using TiVoToGo in other media players, but you may experience video quality problems and other playback issues.

16. Enjoy using TiVo Desktop!

NOTE : If you experience issues after installing TiVo desktop, please read TiVo Desktop for PC troubleshooting.

 

Changing where your TiVo Desktop programs are saved

You can change the location where recorded programs are saved at any time, without needing to reinstall TiVo Desktop.

Changing your file location is easy! Just follow these instructions:

1. File > Preferences

2. Under File Locations > My TiVo Recordings, you'll see a line that by default reads C:\Users\[your user name]\Documents\My TiVo Recordings

3. Click Change...

4. Highlight the new folder where you want to save your TiVo recordings, and click OK.

5. You’ll be returned to the Preferences window. Click OK.

6. And you’re finished! All future recordings - including previously-scheduled Season Pass recordings - will be saved to this folder.

NOTE: This change will ONLY affect future recordings. You must manually move past recordings to this location in order for them to appear on your TiVo box.

 

Uninstalling TiVo Desktop

To uninstall TiVo Desktop for Windows, perform the following steps:

1. Exit all other programs on your PC.

2. From Start, select Settings, and then click Control Panel.

NOTE: The location of the Control Panel may vary based on the version of Windows.

3. From the Control Panel, click Add/Remove Programs.

If you are using a Microsoft Windows Vista PC, click the Programs category within the Control Panel window, then Programs and Features.

4. Within the Add/Remove Programs window, scroll to TiVo Desktop. Click Change/Remove. The Installation Maintenance screen appears.

If you are using a Microsoft Windows Vista PC, scroll to and select the TiVo Desktop entry within the Programs and Features window. Click the Uninstall/Change button.

NOTE: If you are uninstalling TiVo Desktop from a Microsoft Windows Vista PC and you see a message indicating that processes are running, click Ignore to continue the uninstall.

5. Choose your removal option and click Next :

• Select Remove if you wish to only remove the TiVo Desktop program while leaving your transferred recordings, MAK information, and TiVo Plus Key data intact.
• Select Remove All if you wish to remove the TiVo Desktop program and ALL associated files (including transferred recordings, MAK information, and TiVo Plus Key data).

 

If the above uninstallation process does not meet your needs, please run the TiVo Desktop Cleaner.