Welcome To The Spider's Parlor TiVo Page

Chances are you are a TiVo subscriber stuck trying to get the latest version of TiVo desktop to run on your Windows Vista computer.

The TiVo Desktop installation does a check of the OS during install and dies when installing on Windows Vista.  Steps are available to download and modify the MSI file contained in the TiVo Desktop executable.  Unfortunately the steps required are rather complicated and require downloading MSI editing utilities called Orcas from the Microsoft web site.

I'm sure there are lots of people who have undertaken the steps to get TiVo Desktop to work on Vista, but I was unsuccessful in finding anyone who shared their resulting install file.  So in the interest of helping others, I am making my MSI available to others for download.

Download TiVo Desktop 2.4a For Windows Vista

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For those who wish to undertake this endeavor on their own, the steps to follow are:

  1. Download and install Orca - Search google for orca.zip or download directly from Microsoft as part of the Platform SDK.
  2. Download TivoToGo 2.4a
  3. Run the TivoToGo installer with administrator privileges
  4. When the installer gets to the point where it says it can't continue due to an invalid operating system, DO NOT click ok.
  5. Point Windows explorer at C:\Users\<YOURUSERID>\AppData\Local\Temp
  6. Sort the view by date so that the latest files appear at the top
  7. Find the file with a .MSI extension with a random name consisting of alphanumerics with the time and date near when you launched the installer.
  8. Right click on the file, copy.
  9. Paste to your Desktop and rename to TivoToGo24.msi
  10. Click OK on the Tivo installer.
  11. Launch Orca.
  12. Open TivoToGo24.msi with Orca.
  13. Left click to select the LaunchCondition row in the left window pane.
  14. Remove all entries from the right window pane.
  15. Save the file, exit Orca.
  16. Open an elevate command prompt (Start, Programs, Accessories, right click Command Prompt choose Run As Administrator)
  17. Type MSIEXEC /I <path to your MSI file>
  18. TivoToGo24.msi installation will now complete.

If you encounter problems with the TiVo Beacon service, give the following a try.

  1. Configure TiVoBeacon service for auto restart:
    a. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc
    b. Click Services tab
    c. Click the Services button
    d. Double click TivoBeacon service
    e. Click the Recovery tab
    f. Choose Restart the Service for the first three options
    g. Click OK and close Services and the Task List
  2. Navigate to the TiVo Beacon Service executable. Path is as follows:
    x86 Systems: C:\Program Files\Common Files\TiVo Shared\Beacon
    x64 Systems: C:\Program Files (x86)\Common Files\TiVo Shared\Beacon
  3. Right click the TiVoBeacon.exe choose properties
  4. Click the Compatibility tab
  5. Check the top box for compatibility mode, set the drop down to XP (Service Pack 2)
  6. Click OK
  7. Right click the TiVoBeacon.exe choose Run As Administrator
  8. Restart the computer

Once the TiVoBeaconService has successfully launched, it is not necessary to run in XP compatibility mode after that but won't hurt to keep it that way either.

Bugs I know about

  1. Right click of the tray icon does not work and reports "The specified service does not exist as an installed service".  Use double click of the tray icon to open TiVo Desktop.
  2. Minimized windows will not open again.  Double click tray icon to re-open minimized windows.

Despite the above, I have not found anything within the actual TiVo Desktop program that does not work as it did on XP.

Things I wish TiVo Desktop Offered
(presented here in the hopes TiVo will consider adding this functionality)

  1. Ability to delete shows on my TiVos
  2. Ability to transfer programs between my TiVos via TiVo Desktop
  3. Ability to manage Season Passes
  4. Ability to schedule programs or alter To Do list
  5. Ability to password protect individual picture folders
  6. Ability to clear multiple items from  Recently Deleted

 







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