Question
Can I save stuff on my Sky + HD box hard drive, and then save them to a USB memory stick?
Submitted online by Frank
Our Answer
Sadly, the USB port(s) on a Sky box can’t be used to copy TV shows / movies onto a USB memory stick, or an external USB hard drive. And before you ask, you can’t use the Sky+ HD box SATA port to copy off content either.
So, how do I archive stuff?
Probably the easiest way is to connect your Sky+ box to either a DVD Recorder or a VHS Video Recorder using a SCART lead, then dub over your TV shows to DVD or video.
The other option, is to copy content over to your computer.
How do I copy to a computer?
You need to equip your computer with something that will allow it to record video content from a connected device. There are several products on the market that can do this. One that’s commonly available is the Dazzle Video Creator, made by Pinnacle:
The Pinnacle Dazzle connects to your PC’s USB port, and to your Sky box using Composite sockets, as shown in the picture below:
The Dazzle is supplied with Pinnacle Studio editing software and supports outputting to a range of video formats including AVI, DivX, RealVideo 8, WMV and MPEG-4. You can also burn to DVD using your PC’s DVD writer (if it has one), and transfer videos off to an iPhone, iPad or iPod device.
The Dazzle is available from Amazon and Maplin,and works with Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7.
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