Our previous DIY Xbox 360 HDD guide has been a huge success and have saved a lot of money for a lot of readers. However, since the original publishing of that guide, Microsoft has made some major updates to the firmware and sizes of their HDD line; which made the previous guide outdated. After extensive testing and research on our part, we have written this new 2010 version of the guide to help you get a new 250GB Xbox360 Hard Drive for as little as $60 and a little elbow grease. Read on to find out what you need!
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UPDATE:
According to our reader spike2jk, here’s how you can copy your files from the old hard drive back to the freshly hacked drive:
“I put my old hard drive in my computer and extracted all the files out of partition 2 and copied it onto my computers desktop. I then put my new hard drive in the xbox and formatted it, then put it back into my computer and dragged the files from partition 2 into my new hard drive through 360xplorer; I then put all my save files from my flash drive onto my new hard drive through the xbox and i was good to go.”
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UPDATE 2 (10/31/2010):
To use the latest series of the WD Scorpio Black HDD’s, you will need HDDHackr’s latest version which can be found here: Xbox-Hacker-BBS. The procedure to the hack is still the same, simply use the newest version of the file.
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UPDATE 3 (11/06/2010):
This hack can be used to create hard drives that will work with the new Xbox 360 Slim models. You can purchase an empty shell from retailers online such as DealExtreme.
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Disclaimer:
We are not responsible for any damages or failures that results directly or indirectly from this mod. You WILL NOT be banned from Xbox Live for using this mod. You WILL void your hard drive’s warranty with this mod but NOT your Console’s. This mod will only work with the following hard drives:
- WD Scorpio Series BEVS/BEAS
- WD Scorpio Blue Series BEVS/BEVT
- WD Scorpio Black Series BEKT/BJKT
- WD VelociRaptor Series
This mod will be able to create hard drives in the following sizes:
- 20GB
- 60GB
- 120GB
- 250GB
It is possible to use a larger hard drive but you can only use the specified drive size signature. In other words, you can use a 500GB hard drive but you will only ever see up to 250GB as that is the largest signature file which exists.
If you need to transfer your game saves and profiles. I suggest using a USB flash drive formatted for use on a 360. Move your profile and game saves and restore them back to the newly hacked hard drive. Using 360Xplorer may also work but I’ve never found the program to be all that successful and am still wary of messing with existing data outside of sanctioned means.
What You Will Need:
- HDDHackr and Tools: You can download them HERE
- HDDHackr’s latest version which can be found here: Xboxhacker.org
- Torx 6 and Torx 10 screw drivers or bits (you can find this at Radio Shack or your local electronic stores - Torx 6 will be the harder one to find)
- USB Flash drive 2-4GB in size
- 360XPlorer if you would like to read the flashed hard drives (This tutorial will not cover the use of this software)
- A compatible 2.5” SATA Hard Drive as listed above
Proceedure:
- Open up the tools software kit you downloaded and install iPrep from the archive. This will install on all versions of Windows (XP/Vista/7/32 bit or 64 bit)
- Replace ixDef.xml in C:\Program Files\iPrep\Resources with the one in the archive
- Start up iPrep and load all three of the custom firmware from the “firmware” folder
- If you know your SATA device ID, select it, otherwise, any will do
- Select your target device, this is the drive letter Windows assigned your Flash Drive when you plugged it in
- Make sure you select FAT32 as the format for your flash drive and then hit START
- Once the drive has completed formatting, open it up again in Windows Explorer
- Copy “hddhackr.exe” over to the root of the flash drive, no sub folders
- Copy the “hddss.bin” file for the correct sized hard drive to the root of the flash drive, no sub folders
- Shut down your PC
- Disconnect all your hard drives, DVD drives, CD drives from the motherboard
- Connect the virgin hard drive to the motherboard, make sure the power connect is plugged in as well
- Boot up the computer with the iPrep’ed USB drive connected (make sure USB is selected in your computer’s BIOS as the boot up device, refer to your manual if you don’t know how to change that)
- At the “C:\>” prompt, type “hddhackr.exe” (without the quotes)
- You should now see a list of your ports on the computer, and if you only left the 360 drive connected, you should only see one of the ports populated. Select that drive by typing in the port number.
- You will then be prompted to [D]ump or [F]lash the firmware. Select Flash and type in the name of the security sector, which will be HDDSS.bin
- The program will say that the firmware does not match and do you want to flash it, select YES.
- You will then be asked if you would like to create partitions 0/2/3, select YES again and proceed to wait for the hard drive to be hacked.
- There is an UNDO.bin file that has been saved to your USB drive. Make sure you hang on to that file if you ever want to return your drive to original state (as in not used in a 360 anymore.)
- Watch this video to understand how to take apart your 360’s hard drive enclosure. Repeat the procedure to install your new hacked hard drive.
- After your hard drive is reassembled, plug it into the 360 and have the 360 format the drive again. If you have any profiles or game saves to transfer, you can either use a hard drive transfer cable, or you can copy back the date from the 360 formated USB drive.
That’s it! You’re done! Congratulations on a brand new 250GB Xbox 360 hard drive that will work with all non-slim versions of the Xbox 360 for a fraction of the price. I’ve been using my drive for a long time after recently increased its size to a 250GB. Install to your heart’s content and be comforted in knowing your didn’t pay Microsoft one cent more than they deserved!
If you found this article to be helpful, please feel free to comment below and share with your friends. Remember to listen to the GamerWok Hour every week for tips like this and much more. Find it on iTunes or subscribe to the feed HERE!
Credits to InsaneNutter for original HDDHackr pics!
UPDATE: According to our reader spike2jk, here’s how you can copy your files from the old hard drive back to the freshly hacked drive:
“I put my old hard drive in my computer and extracted all the files out of partition 2 and copied it onto my computers desktop. I then put my new hard drive in the xbox and formatted it, then put it back into my computer and dragged the files from partition 2 into my new hard drive through 360xplorer; I then put all my save files from my flash drive onto my new hard drive through the xbox and i was good to go.”
UPDATE 2: To use the latest series of the WD Scorpio Black HDD’s, you will need HDDHackr’s latest version which can be found here: Xbox-Scene. The procedure to the hack is still the same, simply use the newest version of the file.
