using external hard drive with Airtel HD+

[Saanvi]

I have recently upgraded to Airtel HD+ and after using it for a while I noticed that it supports external usb hard drive connection for recording programs. So I am trying to use one partition of my external hard drive of 500gb for Airtel HD+ STB. But when I connect the hard drive to the STB then it asks me to either format the drive or go back. Now I dont want to format the drive because there are many useful data. So can anyone tell me how do I use the hard drive with this STB without formatting it? Thanks

[Lankesh]

I have read that even if we copy the recorded videos from the usb drive to our computer then the files are not even recognized by the pc. When I tried it then there was no content displaying on my computer and I just saw that the drive was empty. But when the same drive was connected into the STB then all the recorded programs were showing properly.

[Marcya]

Also, in this Airtl HD+ we can only record from one channel. We do not get the option to watch one channel and record other channel, it is only possible in HD DVR. But we can watch the recorded programs while recording pretty easily. As for your question I dont think it will be possible and you need to have a dedicated hard drive for Airtel HD+ set top box.

[Sudhamay]

If you want to enable the recording then you will need to pay Rs. 525 and a recording top-up of Rs. 25 per month. Also you wont be able to use 1 partition of the hard drive with the set top box because after starting the format, the whole mbr of your 500gb hard drive will be formatted and re-created again and eventually you will lose all the data from your hdd.