I'm baffled as to why Microsoft hasn't implemented an undelete for recorded TV.  Seems simple enough.  

 My guess is the size of the recorded files. You will need to allocate a substantial portion of your drive to the recycle bin if you want to save anything decent. Also auto deleted files will fill up the recycle bin fast. These are just my guesses though...

 Why not keep the last 5 deleted things in the a "recycle bin"?

Why not keep everything deleted until the space is needed and then start removing files, oldest first, from the deleted list when space is needed.

My Recorded TV folder had 97 hours of available Hi Def disk space (647 hours SD) and there have been times when I said "Oh Shucks" when I deleted a program.

HTPCwatcher:

I'm baffled as to why Microsoft hasn't implemented an undelete for recorded TV.  Seems simple enough.  

I'm baffled as to why people delete something they may want to watch later. Seems simple enough.

effyew:

HTPCwatcher:

I'm baffled as to why Microsoft hasn't implemented an undelete for recorded TV.  Seems simple enough.  

I'm baffled as to why people delete something they may want to watch later. Seems simple enough.

That's a good idea.  But after hundreds of recordings it gets a little unwieldy trying to find something in the Recorded TV list.  If they gave us ways to file things away in folders it'd be better.  Or a search.  Or a "not watched" filter.  Improvements need to be made to make managing lots of recordings easier.

rgreenpc:

I have a feeling we will see it soon

do you have some inside info? if that feature becomes available, i hope it's user selectable. i would turn it off since it's extremely rare that i would want to recover a recording, i'd prefer to keep the disk space available.

 I wouldn't expect this to become a feature any time soon. 

HTPCwatcher:

Why not keep everything deleted until the space is needed and then start removing files, oldest first, from the deleted list when space is needed.

That of course would be the way to do it, but there would be some tension between MC and the Windows Recycle Bin that would have to be resolved. It would be simplest for people like me who dedicate whole drives to Recorded TV.

HTPCwatcher:

My Recorded TV folder had 97 hours of available Hi Def disk space (647 hours SD) and there have been times when I said "Oh Shucks" when I deleted a program.

Yep, in the absence of Undo, you really do need to pay very close attention when deleting programs, especially in light of the bug described in this thread. It would be a very bad idea to try to delete a sequence of programs rapidly under the assumption that each deletion returns you to the next program in the list, when Media Center often dumps you randomly on a program recorded six months ago that is dozens of files away from your previous position.

tims029334:

Yep, in the absence of Undo, you really do need to pay very close attention when deleting programs, especially in light of the bug described in this thread. It would be a very bad idea to try to delete a sequence of programs rapidly under the assumption that each deletion returns you to the next program in the list, when Media Center often dumps you randomly on a program recorded six months ago that is dozens of files away from your previous position.

Yes, I've noticed that ugly behavior.  My workflow when deleting a program is to delete the program, press the green button on the remote, and then press the Recorded TV button on the remote to get back in.  That way I never get stuck in the middle of recorded TV.

In fact, the best way to delete a recorded TV is to just fast forward to the end while watching and the info panel pops up.  I can delete from there and I'm assured that I'm deleting the program I'm watching and not the wrong one.  I only wish that there were a delete option on the "info" button while watching a program.

I know this may sound like heresy but when I have a lot of deletion to make I just use good old widows explorer.  Afterall, RecordedTV is nothing more than a folder with files in it.  Putting the files in alphabetical order puts all the shows together and then it's just a matter of selecting and deleting.

HTPCwatcher:

I'm baffled as to why Microsoft hasn't implemented an undelete for recorded TV.  Seems simple enough.