1

I am looking to get a Xbox 360 Slim. I was thinking that since I have a one terabyte external hard drive I could just use it with my new Xbox Slim.

But does the Xbox 360 Slim clear the data currently on it? I want like 100gb for the Xbox and the rest for the PC. I'm pretty sure you can select and amount you want to use for the Xbox but does it clear the rest?

1 Answer 1

4

If your device is large enough (the minimum is 1 GB) you can ask the Xbox 360 to create a file on the drive of a size you specify, up to 16 GB total. The Xbox 360 can then store it's data inside this file. You will have to specify this external device when creating or loading a save game or starting a download.

Creating this file will not destroy the other data on the disk. However, the device must be formatted in FAT32, which has a size limitation of 32 GB. You might have to create a couple of partitions on the drive in order to use it for both Xbox 360 data and other data. A better option might be to pick up a 16 GB USB key, since that's all the Xbox 360 can use on an external device anyway.

Microsoft has a help article on the Xbox website that might be good reading before you begin. They recommend you buy their branded USB device, but most USB 2.0 or higher compatible devices should work fine.

5
  • Okay thanks! Then I most likely will buy the Xbox with such a great deal! Thanks! Dec 27, 2011 at 15:08
  • @Fogest, I edited a bit, you may want to get a smaller USB key instead of a very large hard drive, since the Xbox can only use 16 GB of storage on an external device, and it has formatting constraints.
    – agent86
    Dec 27, 2011 at 15:16
  • The Filesystem of my External hardrive is FAT32. I'm fine with configuring a 16gb on the external as long as it doesn't over write files already on it. Now does the Xbox create a partion or do I have to for each 16gb's I want to use? Dec 27, 2011 at 15:22
  • @Fogest, the 16GB file is not supposed to overwrite files, but this being technology (where there's no guarantees :) ) I'd still back up anything important before starting, just in case. The Xbox will create the file on the FAT32 drive for you, there's no need to do anything prior to connecting it. There's a max of 16 GB per device so you won't be able to use more than 16 GB of your drive for the Xbox 360, period.
    – agent86
    Dec 27, 2011 at 15:45
  • 1
    Correction: It creates a series of 1GB files on the drive for Xbox storage.
    – CyberSkull
    Dec 27, 2011 at 20:57

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .