Two different External HD must be formatted?

I'm using an external HD to record TV (with Windows Media Center) and everything is copyright protected. I also use it to backup my stuff.

The other day my OLD HD stop responding, it would take a couple minutes to be recognized by windows and sometimes windows would say "You need to format this drive to use it" - (I never did btw) - I just restarted the computer.

However...

When it WAS recognized it would not respond and I could not play the recorded TV - WMC would hang.
Also, if I tried to open a file it would hang.
I figured the drive had died and I bought a replacement from another maker (seagate) and all seemed well for a couple of days until I got another popup from Windows saying I needed to format the drive to use it. (I did not)

I restarted the computer and the drive was recognized and everything is working as normal (no hanging).

Also - the new drive letter was named (D) - which is also my external CD/DVD drive which is only plugged in when I play a movie (which is rare) or (god forbid) reinstall Windows.

So my questions are -
(1) If I change my new drive letter to (E), will WMC play the copyrighted TV?

(2) If I change my CD/DVD player drive letter to (E) can it still be used to (god forbid) reinstall windows? Is there something in BIOS that would insist that the drive letter be (D) ?

(3) Why is this happening?
FYI - I plugged in my OLD HD to a different computer and the "hanging" problem persisted, which is why I figured it had died, but now I'm getting the "must reformat" message with this NEW HD. I worried that the next time I reboot the new HD will not be recognized and hang like my old HD.


Any thoughts?
Thanks

Layback Bear said:

Doing this is a NO NO on this Forum. Please read the Forum rules again.

Windows 7 Help Forums - Forum Rules

4) No piracy or discussion of piracy allowed at all. Such as software, music, videos and other intellectual property violations (e.g. downloading youtube videos locally etc).

No you misunderstand, this is legit - I'm using Windows Media Center with a video card that came installed in my computer- WMC has a record function. It's like Windows version of TIVO. I'm not asking how to circumvent the DRM, I'm asking what I can do now that my hard drive is no longer functioning.

No problem...

Layback Bear said:

My understanding WMP is not like a TIVO.
My understanding WMP will not record copyrighted videos. It will play them but not record them.
I'm no expert but other will be by to correct me if I'm wrong.

Here you go Jack, this is all he's doing in Windows Media Center,

Record TV in Windows Media Center - Microsoft Windows Help