How to Download Data From My DVR

Step 1

Hook the DVR up to a digital video camera with a "pass-through" feature or to a digital video capture cord. When hooking to a digital video camera, plug the audio-video cable that came with the video camera into the "Outs" on the back of the DVR, matching each cord to the "Out" port of the same color, and the other end of the cord into the matching port on the camera. When hooking a digital video capture cord, plug the audio-video end of the cord into the "Outs" on the DVR.

Step 2

Connect the video camera or digital video capture cord to the computer onto which you want to download the data. Use the USB or firewire cord that came with the digital video camera to make the connection from the camera to the computer, or plug the USB end of the digital video capture cord into a USB port on the computer.

Step 3

Launch any application with a video-capturing feature, such as iMovie on a Mac or Windows Movie Maker on a Windows computer. Go to "Start," "All Programs" and click the program name in Windows or go to the "Finder," "Applications" and click the program name on a Mac.

Step 4

Toggle to the finder feature in programs like iMovie by flipping the switch at the bottom of the main screen from "Edit" to "Capture." Go to the capture feature in programs like Movie Maker by clicking the "File" menu and "Capture from video device."

Step 5

Follow the screens that come up in the capture feature. In most capture programs, you must enter a file name for the video you are about to capture and choose a folder to save the file into on your computer's hard drive.

Step 6

Start playing the video that you want to download from your DVR on the DVR so that it appears in the window of the capture program. Click "Start Capture" or "Start Import." Let the video play to the end and click "Stop Capture" or "Stop Import." The video saves to the computer's hard drive in the folder that you selected.