The Jan. 9 update ran this morning when I turned on my 360 and it bricked my hard drive with an E67 (hard drive error). I booted the 360 without the hard drive with no problem. My question is, for anyone who might know: Can I use a SATA to USB device (Like Datel's XSATA or others) to pull my data off of the hard drive before returning it to Microsoft? According to IGN's review of the XSATA the 360 doesnt have to boot to let the computer access the drive, so would it be possible to pull of my game saves and stuff before abandoning the drive? I am worried that if I send it in to get serviced/replaced I will never get my game saves back! :(

Anyone know the answer to this question? I just ran into the same problem... I get the E67 error message, but it boots ok without the hard drive so that's obviously the problem. But would prefer to rescue my saved games if posssible.

Matthias,
I ended up buying the Datel Xport from BestBuy for $40. It plugs into your PC's USB and comes with drag and drop software. You can connect your hard drive, your 360 memory card and it comes with an adapter for your original xbox memory card, so you can move your original saves over. I was able to back up my drive as an image on my PC's hard drive and reload the 360 hard drive from that image and it worked, my 360 loaded again. The only downside is that my hard drive has crashed twice since then and each time I have had no problem backing it up and reloading it but I am still worried that there is some kind of corruption. I am considering buying a new hard drive and loading the image onto that one. I have only reloaded the drive from an image but you can also browse the drive and move the saves manually, but you have to find the file codes on a website such as 360gamesaves.com For $40 I think the Xport was a great deal, I cant say enough postive things about it. If Msoft ever releases a bigger hard drive I am going to use it to move all of my original save data. Good luck, I know how frustrating the E67 error is, Its freakin scary to have possibly lost all of your game save data.

Looks like a great buy.

And this will work even with a hard drive that is having problems already? In other words, even with the E67 error message, it's not too late? Because it's either save my Oblivion files or shelve the game completely... no, no way am I redoing that 100+ hrs of character building.

Thanks for the help!

My hard drive had the message, the bottom right red light and wouldn't boot but when I hooked it up to the Xport it loaded and after installing the software my PC found it. I immediately made a disc image and used the image to reload the HD and when I stuck it back on the 360 it booted fine. I am curious, was there any cause of the E67 error message for you? The spring update is what bricked my hard drive and it happened again when Crackdown ran an update 2 days ago. I am a little worried that something about the spring update messed up the file architecture and this will keeping happening periodically. Hopefully the next update might fix the problem. So yes, you should be able to access, back up and browse the drive even if your 360 is having problems with it, pretty awesome huh?

That is pretty awesome. Just getting my old saves back is worth more than that. Will order today.

As far as I know... no. No known reason it failed. It hasn't been updated (or even connected to Live) in months on months. The only thing that I can think of is that it was running warm... I have it in a TV media center near one of the heat radiators. But the radiator rarely turns on. But it wasn't the overheat message; it was the hard drive. And the console runs fine with the hard drive removed.

Is the only thing that you lose your saved games? I assume you can recover your gamertag (with your achievements) from live and redownload your live arcade games. I would like to know if because my 360 has stopped reading discs (any disc) and I'm probably going to take it back to the store. I could probably be okay losing my 2 game saves (Gears and R6:V) since I finished the games already. I don't want to spend $40 just to back those up, but I might be willing to do it if it gives me more than that.

Thanks!

well it's also going to allow you to access the hard drive.

could be helpful IF:

1. you want to use downloaded saves, including rosters for sports games

2. you want to throw some WMV/WMA/MP3 on the HD and use that instead of streaming or usb device

3. pictures, wallpapers, whatever.


an xport or xsata might not be useful for everyone, but i'd like to get one and back up my saves "just in case"

i'd also be interested in checking out the file structure, vid sizes/extensions, wallpaper resolution, stuff like that.

Well, bought the XPort and no dice. It doesn't see my hard drive as being connected. So flush the saves down the tubes. Bah.

However, while looking around I did find a website 360gamesaves.com, where you can download other people's saved games if you have an XPort and want to rush ahead in whatever game you happen to have. So it does give you that added benefit.

Oh well.

Matthias,
Try pushing down on the HD when its in the XPORT. I have the same problem with mine. It takes a few tries to get it to recognize the hard drive. Usually when I push it down I here my PC make the little noise letting me know that a new mass USB storage device has been detected. Try multiple times, restart your computer, eject the drive and reconnect. I was sure mine was busted for like a few days before I got it to work. I think that the XPORT just requires some pressure (which it does not have because the locking mechanism doesn't provide enough down-force) to make the initial connection. Hopefully this works and you haven't returned the thing yet.

BTW, before I bought the XPORT I called Msoft (at least their customer service reps in India) and they sent me out a empty box to exchange my HD for a new one. Ironically I fixed the drive a day later with the XPORT. However, I never received the box. It has been like 3 months and nothing, they even called me and asked if it arrived but they ended up telling me I had to call them back to confirm that it didn't arrive. Horrible. I can hardly hear them whenever I call, that and the accent makes customer service a real chore. I am also on my second 360 after my first gave me the "3 rings of death" about 7 months ago.