Xbox 360 software update adds support for up to 2TB external hard drives

By John Callaham
published

Microsoft is rolling out an update for the Xbox 360 that adds support for, among other things, adding up to 2TB of extra storage via USB hard drives. This feature was offered a few weeks ago for members of the new Xbox 360 preview program.

Before today, the Xbox 360 could only handle up to 32GB of external hard drive storage. Here's what's new and improved with today's update:

  • Larger external USB hard drives – Plug in any external USB hard drive up to 2 TB to store your Xbox 360 downloads, profile, saved games, and other data.
  • Purchase history – To view your recent purchases, go to Settings > Account >Purchase History.
  • Password reset - You can now reset your password by selecting Forgot your password? at sign-in.
  • Network statistics - View download speed, upload speed, and signal strength, go to Settings> System > Network Settings. Select your network, and then choose Network Statistics.
  • See your money - Your Microsoft account balance now appears in the top-right corner of the Xbox Dashboard. To turn it off, go to Settings > Profile > Account Security.

Will you be adding a larger hard drive to your Xbox 360 soon?

Source: Major Nelson

40 Comments
  • Why do games even need to install. Seems like a step backwards from 10 years ago.
  • I'm guessing content can be loaded faster. Just guessing
  • It allows you to still play the game even if there are nasty scratches. Just has to be intact enough to verify it's a legit copy and then it works
  • It is way faster ;)
  • Seems faster. ;)
  • Hard drives read/write/transfer data faster than optical drives. Always have, always will.
  • It saves wear and tear on the disk drive, it only runs at first to verify that you own the game, where as if you play off the disk the drive runs continually which also builds up heat, also .... Seems faster lol
  • Faster, quieter, and less heat.
  • Also digital downloads, I have a lot of downloaded games due to GwG.
  • You do realize you haven't played a game directly off a disc for a wehile now right? It's just the opposite of being a step backwards. I remember when I had a Sega CD, games would studder and not load all the time. When reading the data off a harddrive there is far less chance of damage causing a problem. There's also digital release, I have every single GWG title tied to my account. No piece of media involved, how would you expect those to work on a massive scale?
  • 2 scenarios that this helps me with immediately.  I pick up the 2 free games every month and my 250GB 360 is almost full, so I have to keep deleting games in order to add new ones, so this eliminates that task.   I have a second 360 that the optical disk drive stopped reading discs on.  I don't have the time to try and fix it so I just use it for the downloaded games.  It has a 20GB HDD and I was about to overspend for an internal hard drive to upgrade it to 500GB.  I can now pick up for 1-2TB external on Amazon, and download every game I already own to it, instead of only the 1 game that currently fills the drive.
  • Hmm, the 360 needs a new dashboard. The current one is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO outdated.
  • Yea, that would be so nice
  • I don't think so, but that's just me. Hell I think the 360 dash is infinitely better than the XBO dash.
  • Agree
  • People always act like i'm crazy when I say it but I miss the "blade" dashboard that it had when it first launched.  It just gets uglier and more generic with every update.
  • Is it me or does the 360 start screen look awful in 1080p? Looks like 720p...
  • Try 1440 x 900
  • Yeah, I've always wondered why that is.
  • It is you, my 360s screen looks great on 4K TV.
  • What if I have a USB already larger than 32gb will it now recognize the larger size automatically or do I need to reformat it and lose everything saved?
  • Probably the latter, but MAYBE you can juggle the data around using a second storage method?
  • Reformat
  • Internal 4tb Xbox one drives, please :)
  • Why? it'll just either increase the cost of an xbox one or decrease the profits of the system. Just go get an external drive and plug it in. I got a 5TB seagate for pretty cheap, and I might order a 2TB today.
  • Yes, I will be adding a HDD ASAP! I have so many games floating in MS cyberspace that I can finally bring back local.
  • Always nice to see they still support their previous system :)
  • I buy a lot of movies off Xbox Video, so this would be great. I can download them and watch them, if I don't have internet access. Plus, this was just a smart move. With them offering free games every month, hard drive can get full rather quickly.
  • Transparent tiles would have been nice.
  • Great update. Nice to see the 360 getting some love...
  • Some games only worked when installed to hdd because they used the optical AND hard disks to load data concurrently. Interesting eh?
  • Rolling media center software and turning it into a DVR?
  • Hellz Yeah!!! Content here I come
  • I have Xbox One, and this almost makes me want to buy an Xbox 360, because can get the cheapest version now, and have access to so many games...
  • I added a 2TB to my 360 two weeks ago (preview program version). Works great! FINALLY I can have enough space for all my shit. 320GB ran out of space like a year ago.
  • I still have 20gb hard drive...
  • PVR for OneGuide please.
  • This is fantastic news.  I have to delete stuff every month to get the new GWG games.  Looks like I know what my next purchase will be.
  • But can u now play games like need for speed rivals cause the game says it has to be downloaded to a Xbox hard drive?
  • Does this new update also include the Xbox 360 Elite version?