I am really confused about your request.
You say that you want to copy your hard drive to a another computer.
You do not want to use motion activation as the cameras record constantly due to a lot of activity in front of the camera/cameras.
Where I am confused is that there is so much information on the hard drive that motion detection will help decrease the amount of information recording to the hard drive.
This means that you are not using motion detection, and that you have it set to record 24/7.
If you say that a DVD movie is about an hour that means you are going to have to watch 24 DVDs a day!! Whew! I do not have that kind of time!!
The DVR is a proprietary system, and it is not like a computer that is set up for plug, and play. The DVR is designed to be the storage medium, and I do not understand why you would need a secondary storage system.
If you require a secondary storage system then "security is of the essence". This DVR may not be the device you will need for your application.
If budget is of the essence then this DVR will fit that application perfectly.
I would not want to use a Geo Tracker for a professional offroad racing vehicle where millions of dollars are at stake in prize money!!
Then again I am not buying $50,000 Hendricks block to put in to my daily driver vehicle!!
I will need more information as to why you need to have a secondary storage system. I would remove the 160 GB HD, and I would put a larger one in it's place.
If security is of the essence, and motion detection does not work for your application then can you use an external motion detector, or can you use a "beam" system to trigger recordings on your DVR??
http://www.optexamerica.com/productlist.aspx?l1=2&l2=9
http://www.optexamerica.com/productlist.aspx?l1=2&l2=7
http://www.optexamerica.com/productlist.aspx?l1=2
If security is of the essence perhaps a different recording device should be used instead of the AVTech DVR?
Would a PC based DVR that can mirror a hardrive via USB, Wireless, or IP protocol be a better choice for you?
Have you downloaded the manual from my site yet? Is that what you are looking for?