Moving content from SKY+HD box to PC

BAW9DV

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Hi,

Not posted in a while but having just had my SKY+HD box replaced with a new SKY-Q box, I now find that my downloaded/saved content does not "transfer" to the new box - something they did not tell me .....

Ok, so I have looked at a few threads about moving content - and it seems that saved movies would be encryted so unable to transfer. But I do have a lot of programmes saved that possibly could be retrieved.

I'm interested in the idea of removing the hard drive from the SKY+HD box (the box cannot now be used because it's disconnected, so using a DVD Recorder is not an option) and thought about removing the drive and placing it into an external "caddy", connecting it to the PC via USB and then identifying and copying the TS files across to my PC (I have an additional 10TB External HDD so plenty of room) and then checking the programmes out and converting them to MP4.

So, is this a good idea? Do I need any special software to do the copying or will the caddied drive just show up in Windows 10 Explorer and let me copy the TS files across manually?

Can anyone see any problems with my potential method?

Thanks for your kind help,

Regards,

Lee
 
Recording programmes is now a thing of the past as everything is streamed.
I don’t think copying is feasible and trying would be a waste of time.
 
Hi,

Not posted in a while but having just had my SKY+HD box replaced with a new SKY-Q box, I now find that my downloaded/saved content does not "transfer" to the new box - something they did not tell me .....

Ok, so I have looked at a few threads about moving content - and it seems that saved movies would be encryted so unable to transfer. But I do have a lot of programmes saved that possibly could be retrieved.

I'm interested in the idea of removing the hard drive from the SKY+HD box (the box cannot now be used because it's disconnected, so using a DVD Recorder is not an option) and thought about removing the drive and placing it into an external "caddy", connecting it to the PC via USB and then identifying and copying the TS files across to my PC (I have an additional 10TB External HDD so plenty of room) and then checking the programmes out and converting them to MP4.

So, is this a good idea? Do I need any special software to do the copying or will the caddied drive just show up in Windows 10 Explorer and let me copy the TS files across manually?

Can anyone see any problems with my potential method?

Thanks for your kind help,

Regards,

Lee
First off, you will need a driver that can read a disk that uses the proprietary XTVFS format used with Sky boxes. If I remember correctly windows sees the drive as unreadable.

A guy did create some "paid for" software that could be used to copy Sky+HD disks and extract unencrypted content but it hasn't been updated since 2016, so probably can't read the current database files that are used to index the contents of the disk.
 
Hi,

Not posted in a while but having just had my SKY+HD box replaced with a new SKY-Q box, I now find that my downloaded/saved content does not "transfer" to the new box - something they did not tell me .....

Ok, so I have looked at a few threads about moving content - and it seems that saved movies would be encryted so unable to transfer. But I do have a lot of programmes saved that possibly could be retrieved.

I'm interested in the idea of removing the hard drive from the SKY+HD box (the box cannot now be used because it's disconnected, so using a DVD Recorder is not an option) and thought about removing the drive and placing it into an external "caddy", connecting it to the PC via USB and then identifying and copying the TS files across to my PC (I have an additional 10TB External HDD so plenty of room) and then checking the programmes out and converting them to MP4.

So, is this a good idea? Do I need any special software to do the copying or will the caddied drive just show up in Windows 10 Explorer and let me copy the TS files across manually?

Can anyone see any problems with my potential method?

Thanks for your kind help,

Regards,

Lee
The only bit of software I know of that was capable of doing this is called ExPVR, but it, as has already been indicated, not been updated since 2016.

Download ExPVR - The XTV & Sky+ Recording Copy Tool - pH-Mb

It does state that it supports the later Sky+HD box models (DRX890 & DRX895) so it may still work, but who knows. Might be worth a go if you've got some time to kill.

Many of your old saved programmes may still be available on the On Demand section of Sky Q so you may be able to re-download them to your new box. Also, any purchases you previously made from Sky Store can be re-downloaded again.
 
I tried that but windows 10 pro did not like hhis and my computer gave me the blue screen which meant going all through the restore procedure so I just dumped the sky box which wax the 2nd from bed try room and ad Sky Q is in recordable to my recorder do not want to upgrade
 
Unfortunately then probably the only way is to capture the stream live through a hdmi device...
 
As mentioned earlier in this thread to have any chance of extracting FTA recordings from your Sky+HD box these days you need to be using ExPVR.
 
I don't think it works with a SkyQ box though as the software hasn't been updated since 2016..
 
I can confirm that I did a quick test with EXPVR on my two now defunct Sky Boxes (500MB and 2TB) and the copying process worked (for un-encrypted channels). EXPVR still works despite no updates since 2016.
However, when I posted about this in the Sky Community Forum my posts were deleted and I was very politely contacted by a moderator and told that I could not post things that encouraged the breaking of the law or advice that would result in a breach of Sky product or equipment warranties.
I have politely replied explaining that I do not believe I would be breaking the law, citing the exceptions that are granted under the "Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988" as clearly explained on the Private Copying - Copyright website. But that I appreciate that dismantling the box would invalidate the warranty, but failed to see how this was relevant after I had ended the contract for Sky+ and moved to SkyQ. I have asked if there is any written statement from Sky on how the use of EXPVR is not an acceptable method to preserve the life of a recording made for time-shifting purposes as defined in the Act or how it breaks the law in some other way. There is nothing in the act about how many times you can watch a time-shifted recording, but I suppose if you have already watched it then you are not really just time-shifting. But then what if you rewind live TV to re-watch a good bit, more than once! I do my best to be a law abiding citizen so I will let you know how it goes!
 
I can confirm that I did a quick test with EXPVR on my two now defunct Sky Boxes (500MB and 2TB) and the copying process worked (for un-encrypted channels). EXPVR still works despite no updates since 2016.
However, when I posted about this in the Sky Community Forum my posts were deleted and I was very politely contacted by a moderator and told that I could not post things that encouraged the breaking of the law or advice that would result in a breach of Sky product or equipment warranties.
I have politely replied explaining that I do not believe I would be breaking the law, citing the exceptions that are granted under the "Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988" as clearly explained on the Private Copying - Copyright website. But that I appreciate that dismantling the box would invalidate the warranty, but failed to see how this was relevant after I had ended the contract for Sky+ and moved to SkyQ. I have asked if there is any written statement from Sky on how the use of EXPVR is not an acceptable method to preserve the life of a recording made for time-shifting purposes as defined in the Act or how it breaks the law in some other way. There is nothing in the act about how many times you can watch a time-shifted recording, but I suppose if you have already watched it then you are not really just time-shifting. But then what if you rewind live TV to re-watch a good bit, more than once! I do my best to be a law abiding citizen so I will let you know how it goes!
This is possibly a grey area in Technological Protection Section of the article:

"It is important to note that even after the implementation of the private copying exception, consumers are not allowed to break copy protection technology (in legal jargon: Technological Protection Measures, or TPMs) in order to benefit from the exception."

This is because exPVR has a built-in driver to read a proprietary file system (XTVFS) which could be argued is a form of copy protection.
 
Yes - that could well be it. But, as I read it, it is also not permitted to implement TPMs that infringe a pre-existing right to make time-shift recordings. This is specifically stated on HM Government website and there is a process to make a complaint if a rights owner is implementing a TPM that does this. However, the article I linked to before said that no-one ever suceeded in making a complaint. The HMG site says you are supposed to try to come to an agreement with the rights owner before making the complaint. Not sure who rights owner is of a BBC FTA programme broadcasted through Sky - it may not be Sky!

The other point being made by some people is that the right to view the recordings is dependent upon owning a valid Sky+ subscription. Except that Sky does allow you to make (analogue) copies whilst you have that subscription so they must have some kind of agreement with rights holders to allow you to make these backups which would be viewable post contract. The HM government website also states that "Works made available to the public on agreed contractual terms may also be out of scope" which could I guess be applied to this situation. Although I would have thought you could challenge that being applied to FTA programmes as these were available at the time through FreeSat with or without a Sky contract.

For my needs, I did a screengrab of my recordings planner from my iPAD, then OCRd it into Excel, before moving to Q and have actually found that nearly everything I had recorded is available legally through one streaming platform or another - the service https://www.justwatch.com/ was really helpful. The things that are not are generally those one off events like special concerts, Proms, Songs of Praise - some of which I had recorded because people I know were in them. Those I had not yet finished my timeshift watching of I recorded to my PC using the built in Sky Copy process before I upgraded. So I have saved what I really wanted.

No reply from Sky so far to my question...
 

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