Is it possible to copy video files to the XBOX 360 hard drive with the latest dashboard improvements?

Question

With the advent of the 250Gb XBO 360 and the latest dashboard improvements it seems that movie files (such as .avi, .wmv, etc.) still can't be copied to the console's hard drive from an external drive, is there a way to achieve this?

I recently bought one of the new, revised XBOX 360s under the impression that it could also be used as a kind of media hub and so I wouldn't have to play content from an external hard drive or by streaming from another computer. What is the purpose of the large hard drive if users are heavily restricted in what they can use it for?

Asked by EddieCatflap

Answer

No, you can't copy videos to the hard drive.

The larger hard drive is meant for all sorts of things like downloaded content and videos from the marketplace, game demos, XBLA games, DLC, full installed games, etc.

Answered by Doozer Blake

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Can you legitimately install Xbox 360 disc based games on a 16gb flash drive?

Question

Even though I have a new Xbox 360 I find the drive noise it emanates when playing a game from a disc to be utterly distracting. From some cursory Googling it seems that in April of 2010 Microsoft released a firmware update that allowed for the use of 16gb flash drives with the console. The glut of press release regurgitating news articles all highlight that arcade games can be installed to flash drives, but do not indicate if DVD based games can be. I know installation is an option for hard drives, not sure if it's true for flash drives.

Can an end user legitimately use an unbranded 16gb flash drive install Xbox 360 disc based games?

Asked by ahsteele

Answer

Yes. If the flash drive doesn't meet the Xbox's recommendations you may get a message about performance problems, here's a compatibility list of some flash drives:

• 16GB PNY Mini Attaché 16GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive P-FD16G/MINI-EF
• 16GB Lexar JumpDrive TwistTurn 16 GB USB 2.0 Flash Drive LJDTT16GASBNA
• 16GB Kingston DataTraveler C10
• 16GB Lexar JumpDrive Firefly LJDFF16GASBNA
• 16GB Patriot Xporter XT Boost PEF16GUSB
• 16GB SanDisk Xbox 360 Drive
• 8GB SanDisk Xbox 360 Drive
• 8GB Kingston Digital DataTraveler 100 Generation2 DT100G2/8GBZ
• 4GB Kingston DataTraveler 101 DT101Y/4GB
• 2GB Sandisk Cruzer Micro SDCZ4-2048-A11

Answered by HenryHey

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Can I backup or restore my old PS3 hard drive to a new PS3?

Question

My PS3 just YLOD'd. I'm hoping its just a temporary overheating issue and if I just leave it off and unplugged for the day I can get it back on long enough to eject the game disc and backup the hard drive.

From reading up on the YLOD, it sounds like this a sign that if it's not dead already it will be dead in the near future; so I've resigned myself to just buying a new PS3. My question is this:

Can I...

1. Backup my old PS3 hard drive to an external hardrive

2. Move the old hard drive from my 60gb PS3 (I upgraded the drive to a 640gb drive a while ago) to a PS3 slim. I know that once I insert the drive it will prompt me to reformat the drive; this should be fine since I backed up my data first.

3. Restore my backup on the new PS3 and get back most of my saved data? I know some games encrypt their save data, so I might be screwed with certain games.

Is this possible?

Answer

Yes, you can backup the drive, assuming you can get it to bootup and run without getting the yellow light. Sony's User Guide on backing up states:.

Some types of backed up data can be restored on another PS3™ system. The types of data that can be restored on another system are as follows:

• Saved data from PlayStation®3 format software *1
• Image files under (Photo)
• Music files under (Music) *2
• Video files under (Video) *2
• Bookmarks added under (Internet Browser)
• Terms that were added using (Settings) > (System Settings) > [Add/Edit Term], or predictive terms that were "learned" by the on-screen keyboard

*1 Copy-protected data cannot be restored. Also, saved data that has been restored may not be usable in some games.

*2 Does not include copyright-protected data.

Most everything should backup and restore, except copy-protectd game saves, movies, and music.

Your best bet for getting your data to the new system is to transfer the data directly from the old to the new PS3 using an ethernet cable. Again, details in the PS3 User Guide. Unfortunately, both systems have to be functional for this to work. After the transfer, any old backups will no longer work. From the user guide:

If you back up data on a PS3™ system and then transfer data to another PS3™ system using the data transfer utility, copy-prohibited saved data that is included in the backup data cannot be restored on either system.

Unfortunately, you can't just swap hard drives between systems. According to this thread requesting this feature, it looks like the PS3 encrypts the internal drive with a key that is unique to each physical system. This key can't be transferred.

Good luck!

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If I stick a blank hard drive into my PS3 will it work?

Question

On Christmas Day 2010 my PS3 stopped reading discs so I bought a new one, took the hard drive out of the old one, wiped/formatted it and used it as a portable hard drive.
But today I've found a possible fix to get my old one working again.

If I wipe the hard drive and stick it back in, will it work? Or do I have to have certain files / directory structure?

Answer

Yes it will work, but you will need to download the PS3 firmware and put it on a USB stick for installation:

To transfer the update data to your PlayStation 3, save the file to a PS3 
compatible storage device such as Memory Stick, Memory Stick Duo, USB drive 
or PSP.     Before starting, use your PC to create a folder named 'PS3' on the storage 
media or USB device. Within the folder, create a folder named 'UPDATE' 
(This folder name is case sensitive and must appear in all capital letters).
Once the UPDATE folder has been created, download the PS3 system software 
update to this location.

It will either request this when you turn the PS3 on for the first time after putting the hard drive in, or you may need to put it into service mode for it to install by following the instructions below, and then choosing the "System Update" option:

Since the 2.5 update the PS3 has a Recovery menu with the following options:- Restart System: Restarts the PLAYSTATION®3 System.
- Restore Default Settings: Reset all system settings back to default.
- Restore File System: Checks for corrupt/missing system files.
- Rebuild Database: Rebuilds the OS for the PLAYSTATION®3.
- Restore PS3 System: Fresh restore; Deletes everything and starts from Scratch.
- System Update: Update the PLAYSTATION®3 System How to get access to service mode:- Make sure the PS3 is turned off,
- Press and hold the power button on the PS3 it will power on then power off.
- When it's off press and hold the power button again until you hear two 
  consecutive beeps.
- It will ask for the controller to be connected via the USB cable,
- Turn on the controller and you will have access to the menu.

Source: http://www.waltercedric.com/component/content/article/249-sony-ps3/1444-ps3-factoryservice-mode.html

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How can I transfer data from one Xbox 360 slim to another slim?

Question

I'm thinking about getting the Gears of War 3 limited edition console and I already have one of the new 360 S consoles. How can I transfer my data between the two?

I checked Google and couldn't find any new hard drive transfer cables, just the old ones. Normally I would just swap the hard drives but the Gears one comes with a 320 GB and I want to take advantage of the increased capacity.

I really don't want to move all the data with a 16 or 32 GB thumb drive, it would take forever. In theory, I should be able to just hook the two hard drives up to my PC (they have standard SATA connectors) and use Clonezilla. Has anyone tested this?

Any ideas for how to simplify this process are welcome.

Answer

According to the Microsoft Store, the Data Transfer Cable will work with Xbox 360 and Xbox 360 S consoles. Note that it will do regular to regular and regular to S, but not S to S.

As far as DLC licenses are concerned, there is an option in your accounts in the dashboard to transfer all of your licenses to the console you are on. It's in Guide > Settings > Account Management > License Transfer. There is also a webpage about license migration here.

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Update: A new transfer cable for sending data from a slim to a slim has just been announced. The Microsoft Store has yet to post the new cable, so you must contact customer support to order one at this time.

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