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For basic Home Networking functionality you will need a PC or Mac and a home network to connect to either via wireless or Ethernet. You must also activate the Home Networking Package via your TiVo My Account to turn on Home Networking features.

For best performance of all features, we recommend:

• 2.2 GHz or equivalent processor
• 1GB RAM
• 5GB free disk space, plus an additional 5GB for each hour of HD programs you transfer

Minimum specifications and additional information can be found on the software download page and in the Read Me file included in the software download package.

With your activation of the Home Networking Package, you receive a free Desktop Plus Key to upgrade your TiVo Desktop software. The Plus Key unlocks the full version of TiVo Desktop, allowing auto-transfers to your TiVo media device and conversions for portable devices. You can find your Plus Key on your TiVo My Account Dashboard in the Home Networking info widget.

The Media Access Key or MAK, is a 10-digit sequence that unlocks your TiVo media device for use with other devices on your network. The MAK will appear on your TiVo media device 2 - 24 hours after activation. Once it is made available to your TiVo, you’re ready to connect! The MAK can be found under TiVo Central > Messages & Settings > Account & System Information > Media Access Key.

Login to your TiVo My Account and you can download TiVo Desktop for PC or Mac once you’ve activated Home Networking Package. The software downloads can be found under Home Networking Package, then TiVo Desktop Download for PC or Mac.

You can find all transferred recordings under My Documents, in the My TiVo Recordings folder.

Any files transferred to your TiVo can be found in your Now Playing List.

Yes, before transferring a file to your TiVo, check out the file size on your PC. Please be aware that this is how much hard drive space it will consume on your media device. Once you have watched the transferred programme, delete it to recover your hard drive space.

File size is dependent on the recording quality – high definition versus standard definition – as well as the individual broadcaster’s defined video format: 576, 720 or 1080. A general rule of thumb: 30 minutes of standard definition is just over 1GB, 30 minutes of high definition translates to 2GB.

Because TiVo Desktop is transcoding the TiVo file on the fly, it takes a bit longer than one would expect for the file to transfer to your PC. In general, it takes about 50% the length of the programme for a transfer over Ethernet and 75% the length of the program for a transfer over the wireless network. So, a 30 minute program will transfer in around 10-15 minutes, an hour long program in about 30 minutes, and so on.

Because your TiVo comes equipped to play a wide range of video files, transfers to the TiVo require little transcoding. In general, you can watch the file as it transfers without pause. Just give the transfer a minute or two to cache, then press PLAY. If your network is transferring the programme too slowly, TiVo will tell you approximately how long you will need to wait for playback to begin.