Official Xbox 360 250GB Replacement Hard Drive

Product Information

To get into the Xbox 360 you’ll need pretty much the same tools you needed to get into the old one. A flat head screwdriver helps, preferably one with a long, thin stem (a tiny flathead is also useful in getting the heatsink clamp off if you want to go that far). You’ll need a torx driver with T8 bit. A phillips head screwdriver if you want to remove the fan on the heatsink and a selection of thin/flat tools to help you pry bits of the case apart. On the old 360 you at least had a removable face plate and some insight into what was going on at the rear of the system. This time around you can only look in at the sides which makes this next part quite frustrating. So I just went ahead and tried it. And yes, inside the Xbox 360 S Hard Drive enclosure is a standard 2.5 inch hard drive that can then be inserted into the original Xbox 360 hard drive enclosure. Navigate the list of drives to find your Xbox 360 hard drive. If you are using the disk for the first time, your drive will be unrecognized with unallocated space within the tool. Althoughthe external hard drive is a wise choice for upgrading your game console, it can also cost a great amount of money. Maybe you recently invested in a new game console and are tight on a budget;an external hard drive may not be the ideal option.

Xbox 360 Hard Drive | Xbox Support Add or remove an Xbox 360 Hard Drive | Xbox Support

Before proceeding, ensure that the Xbox 360 console is shut down and the device disconnected from the mains. Remove the HDD from an Xbox 360 Original Unlike previous Xbox 360s, the Valhalla x-clamp isn’t a pain to remove. In fact all I had to do was slide a small flathead screwdriver in each of the four slots in the clamp and push down to make the clamp pop out. I’ve marked the area on the photo above.

Now we have to remove the two chrome surrounds on either side of the system. These are attached via clips that can be tempted loose using that trusty flat head screwdriver. Wedge it between the clip and the rest of the chassis and push away from the chassis: You should also consider buying an anti-static wrist strap. Learn about the risks of static electricity to find out more. The single large heatsink is a lot heftier than what we’d seen in previous 360s, it doesn’t feel quite as cheap or as insufficient. This time around it has to do double duty cooling both the CPU and the GPU. Your laptop hard drive is now formatted to be installed and used on an Xbox 360. Follow the steps below to install the drive to your console drive enclosure.

Xbox 360 HDD Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide Xbox 360 HDD Replacement - iFixit Repair Guide

Again, power on and connect the Western Drive you wish to use on your Xbox 360 by replacing your main boot drive or use a USB to SATA Adapter. Also, make sure that the SATA mode in your BIOS is set to ATA and not AHCL. Some motherboards call this "Legacy" or "Enhanced" mode. If you are using a 250GB drive, rename the HDDSS_250GB.BIN to HDDSS.BIN or HDDSS320.bin to HDDSS.BIN in case of a 320GB drive. At this point you can also remove the 802.11n card which is held in place by a single screw. Remove the T8 screw and the card slides right out. It is just plugged into an internal USB port. Here's how to connect your Xbox 360 hard drive to a Windows PC. Why Connect Your Xbox 360 HDD to a PC? The Hynix NAND on the motherboard is still 16MB in size. It is SLC NAND so it should last the lifetime of the Xbox as long as you don’t somehow mod it into a database server.Before you start, it is worth mentioning that this process will only work for Western Digital Drives, for Example, Scorpio Blue Drive. Things you will need are If you are considering buying an external hard drive for extra storage on your Xbox 360, you should know the requirements and the file format compatible with your Xbox console beforehand. You may or may not know that most game consoles, including Xbox 360, Xbox One, etc., support the exFAT file system instead of NTFS. In contrast, the external storage devices are pre-formatted to NTFS, making them unfit for Xbox consoles. That is why you have to format your external hard drive from NTFS to exFAT to match the Xbox 360 hard drive's file format. Some clips will give way easily, others will take some coercion. Some of the clips are only accessible via a very tiny, very long flat head. Start with the clips you know you can get off and then try to pry the tough ones later.

320GB Internal Slim Hard Disk Drive for XBOX 360

To get around this, you will need to perform a License Transfer on the new console. You can only do this once every 4 months. From the DRM FAQ The side without the hard drive is a bit more difficult. I crammed a plastic tool between the chrome casing and the plastic grate to pull it off and then wedged my fingers in there to get the entire piece off. With some work, the HDD from any Xbox 360 can be connected to a Windows computer. But connecting an Xbox 360 disk drive to your PC might not have the results you're expecting. This time, the release slides diagonally, down and toward you. Pull the hard drive door open at the same time. Don't worry too much though, the warranty on your Xbox 360 console will remain intact, nonetheless.The cover is attached to the system by several plastic stands that fit through little holes behind them. The stands are wider at their outer most edge than they are at the base, too wide to just fit through the hole. In fact, removing these plastic covers will break part of the stands off. It looks like Microsoft did this to make opening the new 360 something that could only be properly reversed at Microsoft itself. Thankfully doing so doesn’t fundamentally ruin the system.

Hard Drive Disk Disc for Xbox HWAYO 250GB 250G Internal HDD Hard Drive Disk Disc for Xbox

The piece of aluminum shielding in the lower left of the picture above lifts straight out, you can remove that if you want to pull out the motherboard. Again, with the console laid horizontally and facing you, locate the hard drive cover release on the right. As noted, the Xbox 360 HDD is a simple 2.5-inch SATA drive, so connect it like you would any other. Most computers open easily, and you can access the interior by removing just two screws. Don't pull too hard, just start at the rounded side and pull it open slowly. The square end should give way too, in the end. Besides file format, there are some other necessary requirements for an external drive to work on an Xbox 360 console.I happen to have an external HD enclosure (the original HD had a platter crash) that works perfectly to mount the XBox 360 HD to my PC for all sorts of uses, allowing for either USB or external SATA connectivity. :D Other profiles can now use content on your console. You can also use the content when you’re not connected to Xbox Live It should be noted that while this modification will add additional storage to your console, it violates the Xbox Live terms of service, and could potentially lead to your banishment from Xbox Live. Downside is that the S enclosure is glued together, so getting the drive out is very destructive to the casing. If you have a heat gun maybe you could soften the glue and take it appart without damaging the case, but I do not. Be careful when removing the front of the system. There’s a ribbon cable that connects the 360‘s power button to the rest of the system, you have to remove it before you can proceed. In my original teardown the ribbon cable just ripped right out of its connector without any problems so if this happens to you, you should be ok.