I fried my player but still have the files on the hard drive intact. Is it possible in any way to get them off the hard drive onto a computer?

No, there is no practical way to install the Pio 640 hard drive in a computer and get anything useful from it. Don't even waste time trying: you need a Unix computer, a particular type of expensive hex editor, insane dedication, and about two weeks of your every waking hour to reconstruct ONE half-hour video. The entire hard drive would take years of your life. The only way to make the drive usable is to put it into another Pioneer recorder and copy your videos onto DVDs.

The 640 was the last Pioneer to use EIDE hard drives, so you would need another 640 or older model to "host" your orphaned drive. Compatible models would be 640, 543, 540, 520 and 510. (The 531-533-633 use EIDE drives but need custom software on the HDD to boot up that isn't included on your 640 drive). Transplanting the hard drive requires a Pioneer service remote GGF1381 and Service Disc GGV-1305 Type 2 or later. These are hard to find and expensive to buy, but various "roll your own" options are possible: a little online research will provide many tips.

Once your 640 drive is properly installed in a new "host" recorder, you can copy the videos to finalized DVD-R . If you aren't ready or don't have the time to edit the videos on the hard drive, formatting your DVDs to VR Mode will copy the files in a special Pioneer format that allows them to be high-speed copied back onto any other Pioneer recorder with a hard drive and allow full editing just as if the new Pioneer had originally made the recordings itself. (If you think you'll likely not get another Pioneer, copy to normal-format finalized DVD-R discs which any computer can rip and allow you to edit.) Unless you liked your 640 enough to buy another one and invest in the service tools, you may be better off chucking the whole thing as a loss: most TV recordings can be replaced at the video store or by reruns on cable. Owners of older Pioneers rarely sell them, and the newer Pioneers (550, 560) use incompatible SATA hard drive connections that can't host your 640 drive. Tough situation.

Wow thanks for the info. I am going to try and find another recorder that is compatible with this hard drive.