360 patched with USB memory support

By Oli Welsh Published 7 April, 2010

Promised system update arrives.

As announced a couple of weeks ago, Microsoft has released a system update for the Xbox 360 allowing it to use USB memory storage for profiles, games saves, demos and full games.

You can use up to two 16GB drives at once, which could be a vital lifeline for those (your correspondent included) constantly having to delete stuff from their 20GB machines.

Most USB memory sticks will work, although SanDisk is releasing official, Xbox 360-branded devices.

There's a FAQ on Xbox.com that should answer any questions you have.

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About Oli Welsh

Oli is Eurogamer's acting deputy editor and reviews editor and likes to take things one word at a time. He is among the best dressed people in South London.

Read more articles from Oli by visiting the Oli Welsh archive page.

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Comments (29) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #1 2 years ago

    ...and you CAN still access the excess space on a larger-than-16GB device for storing music and videos etc. Hooray!

  • woodnotes #2 2 years ago

    Only a day LTTP, EG.

  • geeza2020 #3 2 years ago

    And about bloody time too. It really should have been an option for the very first xbox they built though.

  • SniperZoz #4 2 years ago

    silly about the 16gb limit thou'
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/10 @ 09:55

  • matrim83 #5 2 years ago

    ^^If they didnt have a limit cap who would buy their overpriced 120/250GB HDDs?

    Anyway good deal for people who are buying Arcades now and arent interested in large hard drives.

  • Shrike #6 2 years ago

    Is Digital Foundry still planning that article about which USB stick performs the best?

  • BBIAJ #7 2 years ago

    Works just fine with my 2 GB Forza 3 SanDisk USB Memory Shtick!

    Perfect for me, as my profile size was close to maxing out what little space is actually available on a 64 MB MU, although there is actually only 1.4 GB of space available to you on a 2 GB stick, once the Xbox 360 is done dividing it up.

  • RexRunti #8 2 years ago

    Were there any other changes in this update?

  • nuanimal #9 2 years ago

    @Shrike

    Dammit you beat me to it!

  • matrim83 #10 2 years ago

    @Rex I dont think so.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/10 @ 10:31

  • LazyDan #11 2 years ago

    Does this mean I can copy saves/profiles to a USB drive and take them round my mates and play my saves there without any pissing around with gamertag recovery and all that?

  • Eldritch #12 2 years ago

    Tried three 16 GB sticks yesterday.

    A silver Spaceloop stick by cnMemory (25 EUR) works, but according to the 360, its specs are not ideal.
    A black Spaceloop XL stick by cnMemory (25 EUR) doesn't work, because the 360 says, its not safe enough for data to be stored on it.
    A SanDisk Cruzer Micro (40 EUR) works, and the 360 praised its specs. Which, of course, is pure coincidence!

  • Doctor_What #13 2 years ago

    I'll need to get the bloody thing back from the engineer who's been trying to fix the RRoD first. Grr...

    Stilll, with a 20GB machine this is great news for me. Eventually.

  • Valver #14 2 years ago

    Seems this update (which you can load via CD) un-borks HD installs for **banned 360s**... and even then lets you do game installs to USB devices.

  • Retroid #15 2 years ago

    Apparently the new Transfer option allows you to move copy-locked saved games from one device to another now.

    HURRAH!

  • Jonny5Alive7 #16 2 years ago

    Can this potentially be used for piracy then? For example adding Rock Band tracks?
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/10 @ 12:56

  • SpaceMonkey77 #17 2 years ago

    This is a bummer for me. Previously, I've been using an external hard drive via usb, to store all my media in one easy to access place (all that awful disc swapping is a lazy pain in the arse). Since this MS update, my external is no longer seen by my 360, so thanks a lot for that dumb cap MS. And unfortunately, there's no way to rollback your update, as far as I know. If you really want to stimulate sales of your hard drives, more reasonable pricing is needed. I'm going to buy a 250gb, and know that searching around you can find a better deal that £70-80.

    Guess I'll have to get a new HDTV with a usb connection, now, to access my stuff unhindered. Time to start saving.

  • CosmicGypsy #18 2 years ago

    @Jonny5Alive7

    Almost certainly not, since all saves will still be associated with your gamer profile. You might be able to copy your profile so you have it on 2 machines, but the DLC won't work unless it is either associated with your console, or the console is connected to Xbox LIVE (meaning only one of your 2 profiles will ever be able to play the game anyway)

  • Lawlost #19 2 years ago

    Anyone else had some weird things happen since the update? Turned the xbox on today played mini ninjas for 3 mins and it crashed. Turned everything off and on again, it started to boot then just failed. Left with the 'on light' glowing but nothing else. I can feel my second RROD coming...... :-((

  • RobotRocker #20 2 years ago

    Used a 320GB Iomega personal drive. Not "ideal" but seemed to run the Blur Demo without a hitch.

    Bastard thing wiped my partitions though which annoyed me as I use a Mac partition on it. Would only take 30 minutes to restore but still, pretty annoying. Will test to see if I can partition after the fact.

  • secombe #21 2 years ago

    Can you back up your save games at all? Terrified my HD will pack up and lose my saves one day. Occasional back-ups to a memory stick would be good.

  • bdaggers #22 2 years ago

    @ Spacemonkey

    Get a WDTV. Lovely little box will accept two USB Hard drives and plays pretty much any file you like.

    Outputs to your tv via HDMI, and a shed load cheaper than a new telly.

  • Jesus: Action Figure #23 2 years ago

    Silly question (possibly) but can you transfer music from a USB stick onto the 360 hard drive? (rather than rip it off a CD for example).

  • shadowaspect #24 2 years ago

    I think people thought you weren't serious since you've asked it in a comments thread for a story about the 360. ;)

  • Arwin #25 2 years ago

    Oh, so I can take, say, a 500GB external HDD and use 16GB from it for this? Or 2x16GB?

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #26 2 years ago

    Since this MS update, my external is no longer seen by my 360

    Funny, it worked fine for me. Left all my data untouched after the setup, too. You did choose 'configure' to set it up, didn't you?

    Oh, so I can take, say, a 500GB external HDD and use 16GB from it for this? Or 2x16GB?

    Only 1x16GB, but you ought to be able to use the rest of the disk space for videos copied from your PC or MP3/WMA files for playing as ingame custom soundtracks.

    You're probably best to format the drive as one big FAT32 partition, that's how mine is. And you need to pick the configure option if you want it to preserve any files that were on the device beforehand.

    Unfortunately, though, you're likely to get speed warnings with a hard disk as opposed to a (decent) solid-state device. Still, it's going to be very handy for archiving old savegame data and DLC.
    Edited by 1 at 07/04/10 @ 17:43

  • Lawlost #27 2 years ago

    Balls E74 error does this lead to RROD??? it is intermitent at the moment

  • omraya #28 2 years ago

    anyone knows if this means you can plug an NTFS formatted drive now?

  • Kryon #29 2 years ago

    So if you own a 360, a system update gives you new features, whereas if you own a PS3, a system update takes features away.. I see...