Hi all,
As you may know by now, when enabling the media features on Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials, it doesn't create a Recorded TV share anymore as in WHS 2011. This also means the TV archiving is gone. But you can still move your recordings from your HTPC to your newly server.
You first need to create a new share on the server called "Recorded TV" as it used to be in WHS 2011 and set permissions you like for each user. Don't forget the administrator user has full control over all the shares, we will need that later on in this tutorial. I've tried many suggestions on the web by others, but I found the easiest way to do it is to create a new VBS file that moves the WTV files from the local recording folder to the archive folder. Here is the code you would use to move all the WTV files from "C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV" to "\\Server_name\Shared Folders\Recorded TV":
Set obj = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
Set sourcefolder = obj.GetFolder("C:\Users\Public\Recorded TV")
On Error Resume Next
For Each file In sourcefolder.files
If LCase(obj.GetExtensionName(file)) = "wtv" Then
obj.MoveFile file, "\\Server_name\Shared Folders\Recorded TV\"
End If
Next
Save the code to a file with a VBS extension at the root of your C: drive on your HTPC. This new file is the program you want to run with task scheduler.
The next step should be done by your Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials administrator user you created when configuring your server at first. If you don't have that same user on your HTPC, just create it with administrative rights as well and login to that account to create the task. This will prevent you to mess with permissions on your server shares since it has full control.
Now create a scheduled task triggered of the completion of a recording.
Open Task Scheduler.
Right click on the first level of the tree and select create Basic Task. Give it a name. I use Recordings Mover. Simple to remember. Add a description if you like.
Click Next.
Select "When a specific event is logged." and click next.
From the drop down menu next to log select "Media Center". From the Source drop down menu select "Recording". In Event ID put a 1. Click Next.
Now for the action to perform you want to "Start a program." Browse to the location you placed the VBS file and select it.
Click Next and then Finish.
One last step is needed if you want the task to run without the user logged in.
Double-click the task you just created, in the general tab change the radio button to "Execute the task without the user logged in". It will ask for the user's password and you're done.
Now when a recording completes on your HTPC it will be automatically moved to your server upon completion.
This workaround for archiving my Recorded TV works well for me. To make it work, I grabbed infos from many websites and forums. So, I have no glory in that... I just make it work for me and wanted to share my experience with other people looking for an easy way to retreive some nice features from our beloved WHS V.1 and WHS 2011. I know many people like me didn't want to upgrade their server to newest release because it lacks some nice features. I've now upgraded to Server 2012 R2, am happy with it and still have my recorded shows moved to my server as before.
Thanks for reading!