Xbox 360, backup issues for future.?

Ok,. So last yr I got my BF the Halo edition Xbox. And about a week ago he got the red ring of death. I don’t have the full story but he says he lost all gamer data.
So, I immediately put in my order for the Xbox elite as an early Xmas present. I have 2 questions as we are moving onto our 3rd Xbox in three yrs. (1st one was stolen)…

Is there an actual way to retrieve gamer data if the hard drive is F’d?
And with the new one is there any real gamer data “backup” system? From what I can find the Microsoft mem cards appear to be a one time deal and there’s data loss? And this XB 360 Xport seems to have several issues “reviews” as well.

I just would like a simple & reliable hard drive backup plan now as a preventive maintenance tool for the inevitable down fall of this next console.

If anyone can help me, Thanks!

You should ignore the first poster. Your boyfriend should be grateful he has a woman who understands his needs. More power to you for putting up with his gaming needs.

As far as your question goes, I too have been wondering what the best way to back up my Xbox HDD is. Here are some answers that might help:

Is there an actual way to retrieve gamer data if the hard drive is F’d? – Not if it’s truly damaged. You could try plugging the HDD into another Xbox and then transferring off of the hard drive onto a memory card. But a hard drive is a hard drive, and if it is completely damaged, there is no way to get content off of it (although I think it would be hard to damage an Xbox HDD so bad that it’s unreadable).

And with the new one is there any real gamer data “backup” system? – No, there is no built-in backup system in the Xbox, even in the new ones. There might be in some future update, but as of right now there is not.

From what I can find the Microsoft mem cards appear to be a one time deal and there’s data loss? – I don’t know about data loss, but they definitely are NOT one-time usage. You can use them as many times as you like; however, storage is extremely limited. The largest they make is 512 MB (you can get third-party cards up to 4GB, though).

And this XB 360 Xport seems to have several issues “reviews” as well. – Not sure which one you are talking about, but if it is the one made by Datel/Codejunkies that actually looks like your best bet. That’s actually the one I’ve been thinking about buying. But I don’t own it, so I can’t say how well it works one way or the other. The one I’m looking at is here:

http://us.codejunkies.com/Products/XB360-Xport__EF000191.aspx

The other option they have is this:

http://us.codejunkies.com/Products/XB360-XSATA__EF000192.aspx

Pretty much the same, but it plugs into your box directly instead of acting as an adapter for the Hard drive.

I think that’s the best solution you will find to back up your stuff completely. The other option, too, is to contact Microsoft. They should replace your boyfriend’s box free of charge for up to 3 years. Just register the box with them and they are supposed to offer full replacement for up to 3 years after the purchase date. It might save you the $300 on a new Elite. When they replace it they tell you to keep the hard drive, and after they send you the new one you transfer all your content to work with the new box. I’ve done it once (and I have an
Elite). Go to the “Repair Your Console” link on this page:

http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/nxe/default.aspx

I hope this helps. Good luck with your backup search!

How to take apart an XBOX 360 ELITE. NO CASE TOOL

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