32 replies to this topic

[Shannon]

Got my son the new Gears Of War special edition xbox and I noticed a couple of things that I have questions about..

I've obviously have not been keeping up on changes that microsoft has been making on the xbox's.. But I need to find out if this is something specific to the Gears Of War edition.. or at least find out which models have this and which don't.

We took his external hard drive and memory card so that he could have access to his profile and stuff stored on his hard drive. Only to our surprise to find the following..

The 320gig hard drive in the GOW SE is different. I'm kinda guessing here but it almost looks like it is a laptop style hard drive. So in theory I could plug a different laptop sata drive in there in the future?

No more memory card slots.. just more USB slots..

So this is where my questions come in..

How can I transfer the content from his one xbox hard drive to the new one..

Same question for the memory stick.. however we did recover his xbox live profile.. there is still stuff on the memory card. I'm guessing that microsoft is now just letting the user use a standard USB flash drive or external USB drive to store this stuff now? So I'm thinking I can use his old xbox to copy everything over to an external drive or something and then copy it from that to his new xbox?

Finally.... when did microsoft start doing this? At what model did they change?

On other thing I noticed and this does not impact my transferring of data.. But I noticed there is no "eject" button. Just some touch sensitive thing that you slide your finger across to eject the disc.

[Rex Dart]

Yeah, if you've got a fat-model 360 around, use that to copy your data from the memory stick to an xbox-formatted USB flash drive.
They dropped the memory card slots on the slim models.
No, you can't slap in any old laptop SATA drive, at least not that simply.

[onlysublime]

if your old HD is not too big, use a big flash drive to transfer contents from the old hard drive to the new hard drive (assuming you still have access to the older 360). if there's just too much stuff to transfer, get the new hard drive transfer kit. Do not get the old transfer cable as it has incompatibility between the old and new systems (it's a YMMV with the old cable).

you cannot use an external USB hard drive to transfer Xbox content. external hard drives are only for non-Xbox content like MP3s, movies, etc.

as for using non-Microsoft hard drives, there are only a few drives that can be used (just like the old 360).

[Shannon]

Bummer on the hard drives..

Anyways thanks for the info.. That helps out alot!

[GrizzLee]

My problem is that I have memory cards with games on them. When I was forced to get new box (my 5th due to RROD issues) I discovered that my memory cards w games on them can't be transferred. I don't feel should have to purchase these games because I bought the memory card to have the games.

Anyway around this ? MS support was no help.

-GrizzLee

[HammR25]

Shannon, on Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:37 AM, said:

How can I transfer the content from his one xbox hard drive to the new one..

Use one of these:

http://www.amazon.co...=dp_ob_title_vg

[onlysublime]

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:48 PM, said:

My problem is that I have memory cards with games on them. When I was forced to get new box (my 5th due to RROD issues) I discovered that my memory cards w games on them can't be transferred. I don't feel should have to purchase these games because I bought the memory card to have the games.

Anyway around this ? MS support was no help.

-GrizzLee

if you bought the games, you can always redownload them at your leisure. you can keep erasing and redownloading them all you like. once you buy it, it's yours. check your download history under your profile and redownload to your new system. also, do a license transfer so that all your games are now tied to the new console. that way, you do not have to be connected to Xbox Live in order to play your game. It used to be that you were allowed 1 license transfer per year but I heard that they narrowed the window to allow more transfers per year but I can't verify that.

the Xbox system with the license allows any profile on that system to play a purchased game. on any other Xbox system, you can download the game, but the game is tied to your account so only your gamertag can play it and your gamertag needs to be logged into Xbox Live in order to play it. sidenote: this is how you can share games with another console. You buy and download the game to the system B. On system B, any gamertag can play the game. On system A, you redownload the game. But on system A, only the gamertag that bought it can play it and that person needs to be logged into Xbox Live and play it (no offline play).

[onlysublime]

HammR25, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 7:44 PM, said:

Shannon, on Tue Dec 27, 2011 10:37 AM, said:

How can I transfer the content from his one xbox hard drive to the new one..

Use one of these:

http://www.amazon.co...=dp_ob_title_vg

yes, that's the newer data transfer cable. do not use the old transfer cable unless you plan on only using old 360 systems. the old data transfer cable may or may not work so to save on headaches, get the newer cable if there's any possibility of using a new 360S system.

[GrizzLee]

onlysublime, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:30 PM, said:

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 6:48 PM, said:

My problem is that I have memory cards with games on them. When I was forced to get new box (my 5th due to RROD issues) I discovered that my memory cards w games on them can't be transferred. I don't feel should have to purchase these games because I bought the memory card to have the games.

Anyway around this ? MS support was no help.

-GrizzLee

if you bought the games, you can always redownload them at your leisure. you can keep erasing and redownloading them all you like. once you buy it, it's yours. check your download history under your profile and redownload to your new system. also, do a license transfer so that all your games are now tied to the new console. that way, you do not have to be connected to Xbox Live in order to play your game. It used to be that you were allowed 1 license transfer per year but I heard that they narrowed the window to allow more transfers per year but I can't verify that.

the Xbox system with the license allows any profile on that system to play a purchased game. on any other Xbox system, you can download the game, but the game is tied to your account so only your gamertag can play it and your gamertag needs to be logged into Xbox Live in order to play it. sidenote: this is how you can share games with another console. You buy and download the game to the system B. On system B, any gamertag can play the game. On system A, you redownload the game. But on system A, only the gamertag that bought it can play it and that person needs to be logged into Xbox Live and play it (no offline play).

I think you misunderstand or don't realize that one could purchase memory cards with XBLive Arcade games on them. They are not tied to user accts. The games cannot be copied off the card. They are not "purchased" content off of XBOX Live, therefore do not travel from on older XBOX RROD box to the Slim. I understadn completely what you are getting at. I went ten rounds with MS "support" already regarding this issue.

I specifically bought the memory cards with the games on them so I could play them anywhere at any time. Like having a cartridge... it was one means to avoid the DLC issue when MS pulls the plug on the 360. When MS got rid of the memory card slot, they screwed me and others alike who bought the cards.

Yes, one could argue that I can always play these games on an older 360 if I so inclined to gamble on yet another RROD experience (After 5 XBOXs, I think MS owes me just a little). I have to check, but there are only a handfull of games released on memory cards and I am sure that MS just though this would fall below the radar (and it has). Like everything else that MS releases, they rake in millions and even billions on beta products. I was foolish enough to buy into it. And for good reason, I had some good times on the original XBOX and absolutley zero issues with it. My XBOX 360 experience is sub par.

My original question is still valid. Unless someone can provide a work around. Or ... God forbid, someone who works for MS reads this and actually cares more about their customers rather than their bonus at the next salary review period.

-GrizzLee

Edited by GrizzLee, Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:50 PM.

[moycon]

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:04 PM, said:

My original question is still valid.

I agree it's valid. Now that you mention it, I have a game that came on a memory card I bought years ago,Worms Armagedon I think it was. They included games on the card when you bought a 512 MB memory card back then (I think Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was one as well), yeah even if all my older 360 failed and I could never play the game again...I wouldn't care if no-one that worked at MS took the time out of their busy day to help me get it transfered off the card. Just not worth my time personally. Worms is a decent game, but still, if I paid more for that particular memory card like say, $20 more maybe I'd think about complaining. As it stands, I say maybe let the lost freebie slide, or pay for the game if it's not putting a financial strain on you or your family. You might also consider picking up an older Jasper model of the 360. These models are considerably more reliable than the units before them and they still take the memory cards.

[GrizzLee]

moycon, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:14 PM, said:

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:04 PM, said:

My original question is still valid.

I agree it's valid. Now that you mention it, I have a game that came on a memory card I bought years ago,.Worms I think it was. They included games on the card when you bought a 512 MB memory card back then (I think Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved was one as well), yeah even if all my older 360 failed and I could never play the game again...I wouldn't care if no-one that worked at MS took the time out of their busy day to help me get it transfered off the card. Just not worth my time. If I paid more for that particular memory card...like say, $20 more (which I didn't because it was a freebie) maybe I'd think about complaining, as it stands, I say maybe let the lost freebie slide, or pay for the game if it's not putting a financial or mental strain on you or your family.

Yep, you are correct. It just demonstates that MS is willing to bet that folks will write it off. Which is what I have done. No stress/strain... just a pebble in my shoe that I have to make adjustments for.

The problem is that I see this type of behaviour time and time again. These little things add up over time. One would think that if someone took the time to call support, that they'd do somthing to keep the customer happy. It wouldn't take much on their part to provide a little token of their apology... even if it is a insignificant as giving the customer a free D/L of the games they can no longer play. It cost MS next to nothing to do something like this. MS is not the only company that behaves this way. Employees aren't empowered and usually don't have a stake in the company.. especially if they are off an off-shore operation like a support center. It isn't their fault, they are hindered by processes put forth by thier execs and are rewarded for adhering to them, no matter how unfair it is to their customer base. This really demonstrates how impersonal these companies can get.

Of course it can go to far the other way as I just read in this post :-)
http://www.atariage....t-your-company/

It is a sad world sometimes.

-GrizzLee

Edited by GrizzLee, Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:47 PM.

[moycon]

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:43 PM, said:

It is a sad world sometimes.

I agree, people starving, young boys and girls sexually abused, innocent bystanders murdered, people forced out of their homes, you read about these things all the time...very sad.

[onlysublime]

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:04 PM, said:

I think you misunderstand or don't realize that one could purchase memory cards with XBLive Arcade games on them. They are not tied to user accts. The games cannot be copied off the card. They are not "purchased" content off of XBOX Live, therefore do not travel from on older XBOX RROD box to the Slim. I understadn completely what you are getting at. I went ten rounds with MS "support" already regarding this issue.

I specifically bought the memory cards with the games on them so I could play them anywhere at any time. Like having a cartridge... it was one means to avoid the DLC issue when MS pulls the plug on the 360. When MS got rid of the memory card slot, they screwed me and others alike who bought the cards.

I looked up Xbox games that came with memory cards and there were only 2 according to wiki: Worms and Geometry Wars. They were free games that came with the memory cards and they were only offered for a limited time. It's a shame that you can't use them on the new 360S systems.

You can either get a Jasper system (I have a pair myself and they're awesome). Or join the digital age by selling them and picking up these titles. Geometry Wars is dirt cheap. Yeah, sometimes people get screwed and you were an unfortunate one.

[moycon]

onlysublime, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 10:54 PM, said:

Yeah, sometimes people get screwed and you were an unfortunate one.

No one was screwed in this case the way I see. Some folks bought the exact same product off Amazon and had no clue free games were being pre-loaded (taken from the reviews on Amazon). So some people were screwed buying the memory card, and others were pleasently surprised?? LOL seriously GrizzleLee, if this is that big of a deal to you, send me your gamer tag and I'll send you some points to rebuy these games.

[Atariboy]

It doesn't seem like a big deal.

But I do think it's disappointing that Microsoft's support system doesn't have something in place to deal with such a thing. It would've been easy to keep people like GrizzLee happy by already having planned for this eventuality with their canned responses so they'd be prepared to tie the game to the account so it could be downloaded to a new slim (Or let them manually buy it by putting 800 points on to their account). They sold hundreds of thousands of these cards and he can't be the only one that would like to carry the game over that is calling in.

Keeping your customers happy, especially when it essentially cost them the same amount to turn him down as it would've been to do what he wanted, should be more important than it is.

The only time I've been happy with MS's support is when I just did it on the website for something like a RROD warranty repair. Everytime I've called them has been nothing but a hassle. I think he's right to complain just out of principle (Although I'm not sure a download version is what he wanted, but I think that would've been a fair response to appease such a request).

Doing nothing stinks, I think.

Edited by Atariboy, Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:59 AM.

[onlysublime]

Atariboy, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 12:49 AM, said:

It doesn't seem like a big deal.

But I do think it's disappointing that Microsoft's support system doesn't have something in place to deal with such a thing. It would've been easy to keep people like GrizzLee happy by already having planned for this eventuality with their canned responses so they'd be prepared to tie the game to the account so it could be downloaded to a new slim (Or let them manually buy it by putting 800 points on to their account). They sold hundreds of thousands of these cards and he can't be the only one that would like to carry the game over that is calling in.

Keeping your customers happy, especially when it essentially cost them the same amount to turn him down as it would've been to do what he wanted, should be more important than it is.

The only time I've been happy with MS's support is when I just did it on the website for something like a RROD warranty repair. Everytime I've called them has been nothing but a hassle. I think he's right to complain just out of principle (Although I'm not sure a download version is what he wanted, but I think that would've been a fair response to appease such a request).

Doing nothing stinks, I think.

Yeah, I think it would be magnanimous if Microsoft attached the games to his account so that he could download the games to his new system. That should be good enough for him. With digital media, you can download the title as many times as you like to as many systems as you like. It's more paranoia than anything else for him to think that because it's digital, it has less permanence than a physical copy. A physical copy can die like anything else.

As for the memory cards themselves, yeah, they're now legacy devices meant for legacy systems. So to me, this is where a person was unfairly penalized rather than the games since the games were considered free gifts for buying the memory cards. It's the memory card you're paying for, not the game. Just like the box of cereal that comes with a toy. Hopefully you were buying the cereal and not the toy.

[Bilnick]

GrizzLee, on Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:04 PM, said:

My original question is still valid. Unless someone can provide a work around. Or ... God forbid, someone who works for MS reads this and actually cares more about their customers rather than their bonus at the next salary review period.

-GrizzLee

Would something like http://www.sunteksto...utm_source=gbus work? Transfer the memory card contents to a PC then onto a USB thumb drive formatted for a 360? I have never used the device or software mentioned, but for $5 it might be worth a shot.

[moycon]

One of those Memory Unit Card USB Transfer Adapter might work since once attached to the PC it shouldn't care if you are logged in with your Gamertag.
Might could transfer or copy the data off the card to the PC and then back over to a USB stick that will fit in the slim, the problem might be getting it onto the Slim itself since you would more than likely not be able to move it off the USB stick onto the unit because you wouldn't be using the correct profile to move it, but it may be possible just to play it off the USB stick at that point.

Anyone got any tips on how I can get my 25 faceplates to work with my new Slim?

[Rex Dart]

Sure; build a stand out of them.

[onlysublime]

moycon, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 9:44 AM, said:

Anyone got any tips on how I can get my 25 faceplates to work with my new Slim?

LOL. a hammer? how about super glue?

[TMOSteel]

Rex Dart, on Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:02 AM, said:

Yeah, if you've got a fat-model 360 around, use that to copy your data from the memory stick to an xbox-formatted USB flash drive.
They dropped the memory card slots on the slim models.
No, you can't slap in any old laptop SATA drive, at least not that simply.

From what I understand the new drives on the slim consoles are proprietary and not your run of the mill notebook drives, so I don't think we will see the hard drive hacking on the slims the way we did on the original 360.

[Rex Dart]

I haven't heard anything about that; all I know is that they're standard enough that I can remove my fat 360's HDD from its casing and put it in my slim 360.

[moycon]

Rex Dart, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:02 PM, said:

I haven't heard anything about that; all I know is that they're standard enough that I can remove my fat 360's HDD from its casing and put it in my slim 360.

I did the same with my 4GB Slim instantly transforming it to a 20GB Slim. I did buy a Slim HDD casing for the HDD off Amazon for like $5.

[onlysublime]

TMOSteel, on Thu Dec 29, 2011 4:00 PM, said:

Rex Dart, on Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:02 AM, said:

Yeah, if you've got a fat-model 360 around, use that to copy your data from the memory stick to an xbox-formatted USB flash drive.
They dropped the memory card slots on the slim models.
No, you can't slap in any old laptop SATA drive, at least not that simply.

From what I understand the new drives on the slim consoles are proprietary and not your run of the mill notebook drives, so I don't think we will see the hard drive hacking on the slims the way we did on the original 360.

that is incorrect. as long as you buy a similar hard drive model, any hard drive will work. of course, with the recent flooding in Asia, hard drive prices have gone through the roof. it may actually be cheaper to buy an official Microsoft drive!

http://digiex.net/gu...x-360-slim.html

note that by using the aforementioned guide, Microsoft will know each and every system that used the guide and could potentially ban all these people who buy unauthorized drives since they'll have matching identifiers. MS most likely won't do that because there are enough fake drives being sold to "unsuspecting" people from places like Amazon that it would be a nightmare to handle all the complaints in customer service. In fact, finding an authentic drive off of Amazon can be an adventure with the only guideline being if it's cheap, it's most likely a fake. I personally think it's safe but don't hold me to that.

[Shannon]

I noticed another port on the back of the SE GOW3 that is not a USB port. Anyone know what that port is for? I think it says "AUX" on it.

Edited by Shannon, Thu Dec 29, 2011 7:29 PM.