Copy Sky+ HD to computer or external drive

Jo4

Is it possible to copy what is saved on a Sky+ HD box to a computer or external drive? Has anyone heard any good reports about a program called "copy+" and would you recommend using it?

gjchester

Jo4 wrote: »

Is it possible to copy what is saved on a Sky+ HD box to a computer or external drive? Has anyone heard any good reports about a program called "copy+" and would you recommend using it?

My understanding is that Sky content is recorded as it came from the satellite, so is encrypted on the hard drive.

You can copy the files but without playing through a Sky decrypted with a valid card it won't be watchable. That's also why you can't record a file then drop subscription levels and later on watch the recording. Sky do not licence or sell standalone decoders.

Free to air stuff can be extracted, basically if you can see anything on a channel without a viewing card in the slot (say BBC1/BBC2 and so on) you can extract it. If you need a viewing card you will not be able to extract it.

debitcardmayhem

gjchester wrote: »

.....snipped

Free to air stuff can be extracted, basically if you can see anything on a channel without a viewing card in the slot (say BBC1/BBC2 and so on) you can extract it. If you need a viewing card you will not be able to extract it.

Probably not if it is HD

gjchester

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Probably not if it is HD

Was trying not to cover complicate matters....

I suspect the OP want to take off Sky stuff.

glentoran99

ive recorded stuff from a sky+ box using a dvd recorded before

gjchester

glentoran99 wrote: »

ive recorded stuff from a sky+ box using a dvd recorded before

Playing anything out of the AV side and recording it on another device is relatively easy, You could also play it into a digitiser like the Pinnacle Dazzle range to bring it into a computer. I guess it depends how much the OP wants to save from the box.

However extracting a lot of data (say a series recorded on the box) to a computer without recording to another device is almost impossible it the contents were from Sky (ie not free to air) and hence encrypted on the hard drive of the Sky+ box.

InsideInsurance

Copy+ simply makes a duplicate of the disc, it doesnt allow you to play anything.

+Extract is a related programme which they say is for playing FTA programmes but the rest is unusable unless you put it back onto a HD in a Sky box

patman99

I know that you can buy in-line HD recorders that are designed to sit between a games console and the TV so you can record gaming sequences to upload to the likes of Youtube.
I believe that they use an SD card to record to and captcher everything that is sent through the HDMI lead, so no reason not to believe that they will also do Sky stuff as well.

gjchester

patman99 wrote: »

I believe that they use an SD card to record to and captcher everything that is sent through the HDMI lead, so no reason not to believe that they will also do Sky stuff as well.

Theres a multitude of ways if you want to "play" the content out and capture the signal, either through analog or HDMI.

The issue comes as the TV a Sky+ box can hold will vary from 40 hours on very early models in SD to 350 hours of HD on the latest 2TB variants.

The OP wanted to copy the content to a computer, but I suspect does not want to take 2 weeks to do it show by show.....

Avoriaz

Jo4 wrote: »

Is it possible to copy what is saved on a Sky+ HD box to a computer or external drive? Has anyone heard any good reports about a program called "copy+" and would you recommend using it?

Why do you want to copy them?

Most Sky+ programmes are encrypted and can only be played on a Sky+ box.

Copy+ was designed primarily to allow larger or replacement disks to be used in Sky+ boxes and it doesn't work on the more recent Sky+ boxes.

You need ExPVR.

This is primarily used to make backups or to transfer recordings from one disk to another disk but it will also allow you to copy unencrypted programmes onto your computer. These can be played back using VLC or other media players, copied to DVD etc.

You will not be able to play encrypted programmes anywhere but on a Sky+ box.

Many if not most BBC, ITV and C4 programmes are unencrypted. Most other channels are encrypted.

I use ExPVR regularly to back up my Sky+ box and to transfer unencrypted music programmes that I want to keep. It is easy to use and works well.


You could connect a DVD or other recorder to the Sky+ box and transfer recordings but, as far as I am aware, that can only be done in real time, ie an hour programme will take an hour to record, and I don't think it will transfer HD. I may be wrong as it is not something I have ever done.

Jo4

Avoriaz wrote: »

Why do you want to copy them?

Most Sky+ programmes are encrypted and can only be played on a Sky+ box.

Copy+ was designed primarily to allow larger or replacement disks to be used in Sky+ boxes and it doesn't work on the more recent Sky+ boxes.

You need ExPVR.

This is primarily used to make backups or to transfer recordings from one disk to another disk but it will also allow you to copy unencrypted programmes onto your computer. These can be played back using VLC or other media players, copied to DVD etc.

You will not be able to play encrypted programmes anywhere but on a Sky+ box.

Many if not most BBC, ITV and C4 programmes are unencrypted. Most other channels are encrypted.

I use ExPVR regularly to back up my Sky+ box and to transfer unencrypted music programmes that I want to keep. It is easy to use and works well.


You could connect a DVD or other recorder to the Sky+ box and transfer recordings but, as far as I am aware, that can only be done in real time, ie an hour programme will take an hour to record, and I don't think it will transfer HD. I may be wrong as it is not something I have ever done.

What is the most simple way to copy the recordings from the Sky+ HD box using ExPVR? What leads are needed? Are there any DVD recorders which are better for doing this than others?