I recommend that you back up the original drive to another SATA drive. Connect both drives to a PC, and run WinMFS as an administrator by launching it with a right-click and choosing Run as administrator. Be sure to select the TiVo-formatted drive as 'A' and '1', and click Tools, Mfscopy. Select the destination drive in the following screen with the drop-down menu so that only Source A and Destination A are chosen. Be patient; the software takes about an hour to complete the backup process, and at times it may appear as though it has stalled or crashed.
Turn off your computer, and replace the old backup drive with your new SATA drive. Run WinMFS as an administrator again. After clicking File, Select Drive, choose the original drive as 'A'. The software will identify it as TiVo-formatted. Click the check box for the 'B' drive, and choose the new hard drive. Verify that its size matches your expectation. Click Select, and choose Tools, Mfsadd. Reinstall the original ('A') drive inside the TiVo, and then install the new ('B') drive in the external case.
With everything powered off, connect the external drive; afterward, turn on the TiVo and the drive. The TiVo should boot to its home screen after about 5 minutes. You'll have to keep the external drive powered up and connected from this point forward--if you remove it, you'll lose any new recordings made since the upgrade, just as you would with an official TiVo upgrade.
Skip Ads Easily With a Standard Cable Remote Control
Difficulty: Easy; Time: 5 minutes
Many Motorola-made DVRs that cable-TV providers supply are unable to skip ads by jumping ahead 30 seconds. But you can remap the remote control to add this feature. I got it working with a Comcast remote, and it will likely work with your cable company's remote, too.
Press the Cable button at the top of the remote. Hold the Setup button until the Cable button flashes twice. Enter 994 on the keypad. The Cable button will flash twice again. Push the Setup button once. Enter 00173. Finally, push the button that you want to use as the 30-second skip; I chose the A button since I don't use it for anything else. The Cable button will flash twice.
To restore the original functionality to that key, follow the first steps described above, but after entering 994, push the remapped key twice. The Cable button will blink twice if your input has been accepted.
