Increase recording capacity

my showsWith the Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander for TiVo boxes, you can increase the recording capacity of your TiVo box.

The Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander is available in a 1 TB size. Once the expander is plugged into the eSATA port on your TiVo box, it will be "married" to that box. The 1 TB expander will add over 140 hours of HD recording space (or over 1200 hours of standard definition recording space).

The DVR Expander can be used with:

  • TiVo BOLT®(all models)
  • TiVo Roamio®(all models)
  • TiVo Premiere (all models)
  • TiVo HD (all models)
  • TiVo Series3

Note: The Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander cannot be used as a mobile storage device to transport shows from one TiVo box to another (or to another device). If a DVR Expander is disconnected from the TiVo box to which it is married, and formatted by another TiVo box, all or most of the recorded content on the original TiVo box and all of the content on the DVR Expander will be lost.

Connecting the DVR Expander

In order for you to connect your DVR Expander, you must first have a supported TiVo box, listed above.

  1. Unplug the TiVo box.
  2. Connect the eSATA cable between the DVR Expander and the TiVo box. (Do not use a USB cable.)
  3. Plug in the DVR Expander. The power LED illuminates.
  4. Wait approximately 15 seconds for the hard drive to warm up.
  5. Plug in the TiVo box.
  6. Follow the on-screen instructions.


Note: Some models of the 'My Book AV DVR Expander' from Western Digital include a USB cable in addition to the eSATA cable, but only the eSATA connection is supported for use with the TiVo boxes.. If you have connected a DVR Expander using the USB connection, disconnect the USB cable and follow the steps using the eSATA cable.

Temporarily disconnecting the DVR Expander

Follow these instructions when temporarily disconnecting the DVR Expander (to clean or move your entertainment center, for example)

  1. Unplug the TiVo box.
  2. Disconnect the eSATA cable from the DVR Expander. 
  3. Unplug the DVR Expander.

CAUTION:  Always unplug the power cord from the electrical outlet before disconnecting the AC adapter from the DVR Expander.

Reconnecting the DVR Expander after temporary disconnection

Follow these instructions to reconnect your DVR Expander after temporarily disconnecting it.

  1. Reconnect eSATA cable to the DVR Expander.
  2. Plug in the DVR Expander.
  3. Plug in the TiVo box.

CAUTION:  Do not reconnect the power to the TiVo box with the DVR Expander disconnected. This will cause you to permanently remove the expander and lose all or most of your recordings.

Permanently removing the DVR Expander

Under normal operating conditions, there is no reason to remove the DVR Expander. Removing the expander does not allow you to play your recordings on a different TiVo box. Because each recording is distributed equally between the TiVo box's internal drive and the expander, you cannot gain additional storage by using more than one DVR Expander. You should only remove the DVR Expander if you wish to stop using it.

  1. Unplug the TiVo box and disconnect the eSATA cable.
  2. Unplug and disconnect the eSATA cable from the DVR Expander.
  3. Plug in the TiVo box and follow the on-screen instructions.