Upgrading your Hard Drive

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This guide will walk you through installing a new hard drive. While this is easy on a JTAG/RGH, unmodified consoles need special handling to make it be recognized by the Xbox operating system.

A guide for using HDDhackr for stock consoles can also be found on MrMario2011's channel.

Using a New Hard Drive with a Stock Console

For stock consoles, you must have a 500GB, 320GB, 250GB, 120GB, 60GB and 20GB Western Digital hard drive with a serial number ending in BEAS/BEVS/BEVT/BPVT/LPVT/BEKT/BJKT/BPKT/BUDT/HLFS/BLFS. Non-Western Digital drives may be forced to work via this tutorial, but it is risky and may render the drive unusable.

This process can be skipped on JTAG/RGH, as they remove the security sector checks.

FATXplorer Method (Recommended)

The Windows utility FATXplorer features a built-in and easy to use utility for adding a security sector for any compatible Western Digital hard drive made before 2020.

More details can be seen on the FATXplorer page.

HDDHackr Method

Creating a DOS USB drive

  1. Plug your flash drive into your computer.
  2. Download Bootable USB Drive Creator Tool (mirror)) and extract it to your desktop. Right click the EXE and run as administrator. If your flash drive information does not populate the fields, select your flash drive from the Device drop down menu.
  3. Ensure "phat32" is selected in the File System drop down menu, ensure that Quick Format and Create Bootable drive are checked. Select the "..." and select the MS-DOS folder under USB Drive Boot Files and click OK. Click Start to format the drive.

Adding the HDD Security Sector

  1. Download the HDD security sector corresponding to your new hard drive from the list below and extract the .bin file.
  2. Extract the chosen HDDSS.zip and rename the .bin to "HDDSS.BIN".
  3. Extract HddHackr and move all of the files onto your bootable USB drive.
  4. Shutdown your PC. It's highly recommended to disconnect the hard drives in your computer to prevent accidental wiping of the wrong drive. Connect your new hard drive and ensure that the bootable USB is plugged in.
  5. Turn your PC back on, and tap the button to get into your BIOS (usually F2). Find the option for SATA Operation Mode and ensure it is set to "ATA" or "Disable AHCI" or "Legacy". Save changes and let your computer reboot. It should boot into a black DOS prompt automatically. If not, you may need to press a button to go into a boot menu for your PC and choose the flash drive.
  6. Type hddhackr and press Enter. All connected hard drives should be listed. If they are not, try changing your BIOS settings as mentioned in the above step. If it still doesn't work, you can try the "risky" method to force the hard drive to work via this tutorial.
  7. Press the number corresponding to your hard drive (distinguishable by the serial number) and you will be asked if you want to dump, flash, or restore the firmware on the drive.
  8. Press F to flash. Type in HDDSS.BIN and press Enter. You will be presented with a message saying that the information in HDDSS.BIN does not match the drive’s firmware info, and it asks if you want to flash it. Press Y and Enter.
  9. It will ask if you want to create partitions 0, 2, and 3. Press Y and Enter. The drive will format and flash itself.
    • UNDO.BIN will be created on your USB drive. If you ever need to roll back to your original drive firmware, you can flash this to the drive.
  10. Power off your PC and remove the hard drive.
  11. If you want to restore the original Xbox emulator or move your old content to your new drive, follow the section below. Otherwise, if you have a S/E model, insert the hard drive. If you have a phat console, take apart the Xbox hard drive container and replace the hard drive inside. Note that on phat models, you will have to remove the shiny Microsoft warranty sticker to get to a screw on the outside. When you boot up your Xbox 360, you may be prompted to update your system software.

Formatting a New Hard Drive

The size limit for an internal hard drive on a JTAG/RGH console is 2TB.

  • You will need:
    • USB storage that is at least 128 MB or bigger (Required if the console has no Xbox Live access)
    • (Optional) USB storage that is big enough to back up your old HDD's contents
    • (For phat consoles) T6 and T10 Torx screw drivers
    • (Optional for S/E consoles) An internal HDD support enclosure
  1. Turn your Xbox on and navigate to Console Settings → System Info, and find your console's serial number and write it down. This is also available on the back of your console, and under the USB door.
  2. If you want to start fresh or don't have a previous hard drive, you can just skip to step 3. If you want to backup the old files, exit out of System Info, and go to Storage. Plug in the USB storage device you want to use as your backup storage, format it if necessary and copy everything from the old hardrive and/or internal memory unit onto it.
    • To easily transfer everything at once, hover over your old hard drive in the menu, press Y, press the Transfer option, and select the USB storage for the backup. This will move all the old files instead of copying, so make sure the console's power isn't disconnected, otherwise data could be corrupted during the transfer!
    • On a modded console, it's best to use the file manager built into your dashboard instead of the stock dashboard, as it will let you copy save files that are copy protected and any other folder outside of the Content directory.
  3. If you have a S/E model, insert the hard drive. If you have a phat console, take apart the Xbox hard drive container and replace the hard drive inside. Note that on phat models, you will have to remove or pierce the shiny Microsoft warranty sticker to get to a screw on the outside if it's never been opened before.
  4. Navigate to Storage. The hard drive will be listed as unformatted.
  5. Select the unformatted hard drive and choose Format, and Yes. You will be prompted to put in your serial number.
  6. Create a new profile on the hard drive if you don't have one already.
  7. If you have a modded console, follow the Recommended Setup on what to install. Alternatively, you can just copy everything over from your old hard drive or USB device.
  8. On your PC, download the latest system update from Xbox.com (mirror).
    • If you have a stock console or a modded console with a stealth server which has internet access, you can just skip steps 8-10 and let the console fetch the update from the internet.
  9. Extract the update and copy $SystemUpdate to your USB storage device.
    • You may need to change $SystemUpdate to $$ystemUpdate to bypass Dashlaunch's update blocker setting if it's enabled.
  10. Plug the storage device into your Xbox. On a modded console, this seems to work best when in original dashboard.
    • If you have a modded console, take note of the prompt that should pop up. If you see THIS, press yes. If you see THIS, DO NOT ACCEPT AS YOU WILL BRICK YOUR CONSOLE.
    • On a stock console, you can accept the prompt to update reguardless of what it says, as you are using the standard update process anyways.
  11. The Xbox 360 will install missing data and then reboot. Verify the installation by going to the original dashboard and make sure that your avatar has skin and is completely a pale white color. You will also be able to use the Kinect features if one is connected, as the update will install the data for it as well.
  • If you wish you play original Xbox games on your 360, see this page to set up the original Xbox files.

Restoring Original Xbox Emulator and User Content

To install reinstall the original Xbox emulator and move your old content to the new drive, you will have to connect your old Xbox 360 drive to your computer move the content over. If you do not have an old hard drive, you can manually install a the original Xbox emulator files.

Backing up Emulator from old Hard Drive

FATXplorer Method

Please note that at the time of writing, the 3.0 beta of FATXplorer does not include the feature required for partition management, so you will need the outgoing 2.5 version.

More details can be seen on the FATXplorer page.

Xplorer360 Method

  1. With your PC off, connect your old hard drive to your PC and power it on.
  2. Download and extract Xplorer360Extreme2.7z and run it as administrator. Select Drive > Harddrive or Memorycard.
  3. Select Drive > Backup Partition 2, and save it.
    • If you want to save your old Xbox 360 content, you can open Partition 3 > Content, and save all of the data to your PC.
  4. Shutdown Windows, disconnect your old hard drive and connect the new one.
  5. Run Xplorer 360 Extreme 2 as administrator and select Drive > Restore Partition 2, and select the backup you had made from the old drive. Do not add your Partition 3 content at this point as it will break the partition.
  6. Close Xplorer360.
  7. Download and launch Party Buffalo and open your flash drive. You can drag all of your Partition 3 content onto the window. Close the program and unplug your hard drive when you are finished.
  8. If you have a S/E model, insert the hard drive. If you have a phat console, take apart the Xbox hard drive container and replace the hard drive inside. Note that on phat models, you will have to remove the shiny Microsoft warranty sticker to get to a screw on the outside. When you boot up your Xbox 360, you may be prompted to update your system software.
    • If some saves do not work, they may need to be resigned to your profile. This is a per-game basis.

Creating the Emulator Partition

This can be done if you don't own an OEM Xbox 360 hard drive.

JTAG/RGH/FreeMyXe Method

  1. Download HDD Compatibility Partition Fixer.
    • This app can also be installed from the Homebrew Store. If you got it from there, launch it and skip to step 4.
  2. Extract the default.xex and the Media folder to your flash drive. Plug your flash drive into your Xbox.
  3. Launch your desired dashboard and open the default.xex from the flash drive.
  4. Press A to install the partition, and press B when completed.
  5. Restart the console. You can check if the HddX partition was made by going in the dashboard's file manager.

FATXplorer Method

More details can be seen on the FATXplorer page.

Xplorer360 Method (Not Recommended)

  1. With your PC off, connect your new hard drive to your PC and power it on.
  2. Download and extract the backwards compatibility partition.
  3. Run Xplorer 360 Extreme 2 as administrator and select Drive > Restore Partition 2, and select the Partition2.bin that you had downloaded. Close Xplorer360 and remove your drive.
  4. If you have a S/E model, insert the hard drive. If you have a phat console, take apart the Xbox hard drive container and replace the hard drive inside. When you boot up your Xbox 360, you may be prompted to update your system software.
    • If some saves do not work, they may need to be resigned to your profile. This is a per-game basis.
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