Well, TiVo is probably right - it's most likely a hard drive.

You probably should start with a kickstart test:

http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-kickstart-hd-tests.php

Thanks for the quick reply.

I'll run the tests shortly, but assuming it is, what is the recommended course? So far my experience with the machine's hard drives, all from WeaKnees, is that they're failing much more frequently than I would expect. I understand that the drives have a finite life, but this last one is about one year. I understand that they're warrantied for six months, but I still find it a tad unreasonable that it would fail already.

Assuming that failure in about a year is normal, my questions are:

1. If I decide to replace it again, will the redundant pairs that you sell allow for one drive to fail and I not lose everything? When I had my last set replaced, I had your people do it and attempt to pull everything off. You said that you couldn't (and, surprisingly to me, it sounded like that is the usual case).

2. If that is the case, does it continue to function with just the one normally?

3. If that is the case, is it also easy to replace the one that failed with no disruption to existing content and settings?

4. Is there anything that can be done to make my multi-hundred-dollar purchase last a more reasonable length of time? Or am I just unlucky?

Thank you again for your help.

1 - For certain models, yes, that's how that works.

2 - Yes.

3 - Yes.

4 - We do offer extended warranties on most products.

If your drives are failing too fast (and one year is too fast) then you should at least consider a UPS as you may have power issues in your house. More info is here:

http://www.weaknees.com/protect.php

Thanks again for the quick reply.

For #1, is it correct to say it's the "EXTERNAL Storage for TiVoHD TiVos (Self-Installation with Built-in Backup!)"?

If I do have a hard drive problem (I'm going to run the diagnostics overnight tonight), will I need to replace the internal AND buy the external? Or ...?

I appreciate the advice.

The external backup is all you'd need - the backup solution bypasses the internal drive completely.

OK - I think my last question:

Is it possible to copy settings or settings + content over to the external from the internal?

Sure - that's part of our $79 service, assuming that the internal drive is readable.