Humax t2000 freeview hard disk recorder faulty
About 2 or 3 months ago our Humax freeview recorder started playing up. We had been away for a while and when we returned and tried to the use the unit there was a message on the TV screen saying we "had to subscribe to Zoo TV" or some such service. I cancelled the message and everything seemed normal for an hour or two but then the box started adjusting it's volume and channel hopping. Every time it changes channel we change it back to what we are watching and a few minutes later it changes again, sometimes several channels in quick succession. At the same time we noticed that the front panel touch switch has stopped turning the box on or off. It still does this spurious activity from time to time. A second, identical machine, we have in the bedroom started to play up in the same way, on the same day. This tells me that it is not a hardware issue.
I have been scanning the various forums for freeview recorders, including Humax specific ones but nobody else is reporting anything similar happening. Both machines are a few months outside of their warranties so I am not sure that it is worth sending them in for repairs. I also don't want to risk losing the many hours of recorded programmes should a hard disk replacement be necessary.
Do any of you know if Humax can effect repairs without losing recorded programmes?
Equally, can I remove the hard drive from the machine and copy the programmes to another hard drive to keep as a backup and be able to restore them to another machine in a playable form?
Lastly, if I go through the menu system and do a return to factory settings, will my recordings be preserved?
Help.
Rans6........................................