Oct. 6--Starting today, Time Warner Cable customers in the Triad will begin to notice changes in their digital cable boxes.

Last night, Time Warner be­gan rolling out Navigator, a new software program on the cable boxes.

The upgrades will be done gradually by overnight downloads over the course of about eight weeks, and some households with more than one digital box may see one of their boxes upgraded before the other one.

The change may cause a few glitches, especially for customers who have recordings set on their DVRs more than seven days out. Those recordings may need to be reset, but ones within the current week should be fine, said Melissa Buscher, the director of media relations for the Carolinas region of TWC.

Also, if customers have set a show to record a few minutes extra -- for instance, setting a show that ends at 10 p.m. to record until 10:05 in case it runs long -- they will need to reset that after the transition.

Previously recorded programs will transfer over, Buscher said.

"However," Buscher said, "it would be a good idea to check recordings to make sure they transferred with the new guide."

Among the changes will be a new look to the menu screens; enhanced search features allowing users to look for a show or movie by title or genre; better show descriptions; and more parental controls.

In the coming months, Busch­er said, the new software will also allow new interactive features. One is multiroom DVR use, which means that customers will be able to record a show on a DVR in one room and play it back in another room. Another is remote DVR recording. Now, customers have to be at home to set their DVRs. With the upgrade, customers will be able to set their DVRs remotely.

"It has a lot more features, and that's why we're doing it," Buscher said of the new software.

The new software was introduced in the Raleigh market last summer, and some customers complained about long reboot times, menu screens freezing up, and other problems.

"We have been working out the kinks," Buscher said, "and we have addressed all the concerns from that launch.... We learned from some of the things that didn't go properly."

tclodfelter@wsjournal.com

727-7371

For more information about the new software and its features, go to yourtwc.com/navigator

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