How do I remove / replace the hard drive in the Xbox 360 S?

Even though the Xbox 360 S or “slim” doesn’t have a big hard drive unit attached to the top or side of the console, there is still a hard drive in most models of this latest revision of the Xbox 360. The 4GB model does not have a drive included, but the very popular Xbox 360 250 GB model has a hard drive hidden on the inside. If, for some reason, you need to remove and re-seat the drive or replace it entirely, the steps are quite simple.

You simply need to remove a small plastic cover from the end of the console and pull the plastic tab to remove the drive. The steps, and some easy to understand pictures are on support.xbox.com, as always, and the link also includes how to remove the hard drive on the original Xbox 360 (which is mostly self explanatory). Good luck with it!

Clear the Cache on your Xbox 360

This Xbox Tip of the Week time, and this one is one you hear all the time, but may not know what it does. Clearing the cache is a simple “step one” for troubleshooting many different issues with games or apps on your Xbox 360.

Clearing the cache does not wipe your console back to the factory default settings, it does not remove your gamertag, delete downloaded themes, demos, games, etc… and does not remove your saved games. What it does is simply delete title updates for various games or apps. Then, when you re-launch a game, it will re-downloaded the latest available update from Xbox Live. Sort of like uninstalling and reinstalling software on your PC – it may not always resolve your issue, but it’s quick, simple, and worth a shot!

To clear your cache, turn on your Xbox 360 to the dashboard. Then, navigate to the right (in the current Xbox dashboard (the first one with the Metro style interface, it’s under the header Settings). Then select the System tile. Select Storage, then press the “Y” button for Device Options (when you have the primary hard drive selected). Then select Clear System Cache and says Yes.

Xbox.com Support has the full details, but the process is fairly straight forward – you probably won’t even have to visit their site for this one!

Update your Xbox 360 without Xbox Live

Although the Xbox 360 was clearly designed with online play in mind, and the latest Dashboard and Firmware updates have clearly taken woven Xbox Live and Internet Based features deep in to the fabric of the Xbox 360, some players still do not have their consoles hooked up to the internet. There are also more than a few cases where, the place where you have your Xbox 360 hooked up might not have a very fast internet connection. Sure you can play games, maybe even stream some video, but to download hundreds of megabytes worth of dashboard updates just doesn’t seem plausible. Well, you’re in luck. Microsoft offers a few different ways to update your Dashboard, that don’t require internet access on your Xbox 360.

There are several options, but I really like the method of burning the files to a CD. You can also use a USB hard drive or flsah drive. Some game discs will even include the Dashboard updates and prompt you to install them before playing the game. As always, head over to Microsoft’s Support Site for Xbox 360 to learn how you can download the latest Dashboard update and install it, without ever conecting your console to the internet.

Is your Xbox 360 Cloud Save giving you trouble?

Sunday means it’s a fresh start, and a fresh Xbox Tip of the Week!

Recently, I helped you Xbox Live Gold subscribers figure out how to use Cloud Saves on your Xbox 360. But what if you have problems with it? What if you receive an error message like “pending upload” or “out of sync?” Don’t worry, Microsoft has already drafted up a guide with answers to the question you’re facing.

Microsoft has posted Cloud Storage Help to their website (NOTE: in traditional Microsoft fashion, the link is dead and there are 2 new articles to replace it: Cloud Save Troubleshooting and Cloud Storage Sync Error Messages – last updated 5/31/2018), and will help you figure out where things have gone wrong when it comes to using the new Cloud Storage feature on your Xbox 360.