Getting recordings from old Sky+ box

dragona

Box is dead, will no longer record anything so have ordered SkyQ. I would like to keep three or four recordings from old box. Any way to transfer from box to box? Or even box to PC?? I do not have a dvd recorder, just player.
Many thanks!

greasepalm

When i had sky+ i could view their content but when finished i could not view recordings, i might suggest in removing hdd and putting it into a powered caddy and maybe might work with q but might need sky to say if external usb are present and working?
most people remove hdd and format them again to be used on other things,remember format = erase

MyHair

Box to box isn't possible, the only way to do what your asking would be to use some kind of recorder. I can confirm a DVD recorder would do the job as i've used one myself for this very purpose in the past. Just record to a DVD and then extract the video on a PC.

muffler

MyHair wrote: »

Box to box isn't possible, the only way to do what your asking would be to use some kind of recorder. I can confirm a DVD recorder would do the job as i've used one myself for this very purpose in the past. Just record to a DVD and then extract the video on a PC.

Im open to correction here but I think I read somewhere that the recording to DVD would be done at 1:1 or normal playback speed so it will take some time to copy over a few recordings - depends on their original duration of course

Johnboy1951

dragona wrote: »

Box is dead, will no longer record anything so have ordered SkyQ. I would like to keep three or four recordings from old box. Any way to transfer from box to box? Or even box to PC?? I do not have a dvd recorder, just player.
Many thanks!

Is it dead?
Will it play recordings?
If not than your recordings are lost, as far as I can determine, as their playback is tied to the physical box they were recorded on, which is required to decrypt the recordings.

If it still plays, then you can record from it In Real Time as each video is played.

dragona

Thanks for replies. Box will play recordings but not record anything new. All the files on the hd are encrypted, there is an app that will extract and decrypt them, but its pricey!

I'm going to see if if I can find the recordings online somewhere, if not I will pay

Johnboy1951

dragona wrote: »

Thanks for replies. Box will play recordings but not record anything new. All the files on the hd are encrypted, there is an app that will extract and decrypt them, but its pricey!

I'm going to see if if I can find the recordings online somewhere, if not I will pay

How much is 'pricey'?

SortingYouOut

dragona wrote: »

Thanks for replies. Box will play recordings but not record anything new. All the files on the hd are encrypted, there is an app that will extract and decrypt them, but its pricey!

I'm going to see if if I can find the recordings online somewhere, if not I will pay

It's true that these video files will be encrypted and if there is a program that will decrypt at a cost, you can bet that there's a way of getting the program for free.

Any decryption would need to mimic the instruction coming from a viewing card that has an active subscription.

Johnboy1951

The only software I am aware of only allows copying of FTA recordings, so it will be interesting to find out if the software referred to above will decrypt anything.

dragona

Pricey as in €35 ish and can't be used for anything else, its expvr, and apparently wont decrypt, so oh well. I can't go and buy a dvd recorder just for a few programs, so will just have to leave it.

Tried anyway to get the program for free, no go

greasepalm

As we have a sky section and you are a customer might be worth an ask if your recordings on hdd now in a caddy powered could be used on new sky q box as it has 2 usb ports? If so a powered caddy would be a cheaper fix?

Vic_08

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Is it dead?
Will it play recordings?
If not than your recordings are lost, as far as I can determine, as their playback is tied to the physical box they were recorded on, which is required to decrypt the recordings.

This is not correct. It is the viewing card that is tied to the recordings not the box.

Removing the HDD and installing in a replacement box of the same type works as long as you are using the same viewing card once the card is paired to the new box.

dragona wrote: »

Pricey as in €35 ish and can't be used for anything else, its expvr, and apparently wont decrypt, so oh well. I can't go and buy a dvd recorder just for a few programs, so will just have to leave it.

Tried anyway to get the program for free, no go

Expvr was a great tool for manipulating sky+ recordings and discs but unfortunately the developer abandoned it some years ago. There have been a number of major updates of sky+ software since then so it is likely that it won't work properly anymore even if you did get a copy.

Source a second hand sky+ box of the same type from donedeal, swap over the HDD, pair the viewing card with the new box and as long as it is not the HDD at fault you should have a fully working box again.

If the HDD is failing but can still be read a raw copy to a new disk of the same size using a disk duplicator should also work, it certainly does with undamaged disks.

Vic_08

greasepalm wrote: »

As we have a sky section and you are a customer might be worth an ask if your recordings on hdd now in a caddy powered could be used on new sky q box as it has 2 usb ports? If so a powered caddy would be a cheaper fix?

You can ask but I wouldn't hold your breath. Sky have never provided any support for customers to retrieve recordings from defective + boxes or transfer recordings to new boxes, even when 3rd party software was available (copy+ and expvr) they refused to acknowledge the existence of such let alone point their customers in that direction or god forbid provide the same service themselves. I seriously doubt sky will ever do anything in this field.

greasepalm

Thats like shooting yourself in the foot as maybe why people will leave or change when no support is given.
a place that does good support will be busier

i asked on the support page.

Capt'n Midnight

greasepalm wrote: »

Thats like shooting yourself in the foot as maybe why people will leave or change when no support is given.
a place that does good support will be busier

i asked on the support page.

LOL

The business model is to keep people subscribing , so no watching anything that isn't on your current sub , no way no how.

The only "feature" available is to record from SCART but that's only because it they can't block it. So yeah you could try that depending on what box you have.


If you keep subscribing you may be able to record repeats

greasepalm

Scart wow still got vcrs and tapes in the ready

Troy McClure

Was there any headway made on this? I was a sky subscriber with Sky+ box and there were a couple of things we recorded that we were talking about recently.
Is there anyway of extracting them from the sky plus box HD? Box has been sitting there since we wised up a few years ago and hasn't been switched on since.

Johnboy1951

Troy McClure wrote: »

Was there any headway made on this? I was a sky subscriber with Sky+ box and there were a couple of things we recorded that we were talking about recently.
Is there anyway of extracting them from the sky plus box HD? Box has been sitting there since we wised up a few years ago and hasn't been switched on since.

Not without reactivating a subscription as I understand it ...... IF that could even be done now that Sky Q is in place.

Slippin Jimmy

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Not without reactivating a subscription as I understand it ...... IF that could even be done now that Sky Q is in place.

Once the viewing card is still in the box the subscription can be reactivated.

greasepalm

Someone mentioned 10 quid or euro to activate recordings per month,check with sky.

Vic_08

Troy McClure wrote: »

Was there any headway made on this? I was a sky subscriber with Sky+ box and there were a couple of things we recorded that we were talking about recently.
Is there anyway of extracting them from the sky plus box HD? Box has been sitting there since we wised up a few years ago and hasn't been switched on since.

What are the recordings? What channels?

If they are from unencrypted channels then they can be extracted to a PC otherwise reactivating a sub on the same viewing card is the only way to watch them.

muffler

greasepalm wrote: »

Someone mentioned 10 quid or euro to activate recordings per month,check with sky.

UK only Im afraid