With the upcoming launch of the Xbox 360 Elite this weekend and new line of supporting accessories like the new 120GB hard drive, we wanted to outline some answers to what we expect to be common questions about these products.  We also want everyone to have all the facts before they purchase any new items or start moving their information from one hard drive to another.  

Q.  I am a current Xbox 360 owner and want to upgrade my storage to 120GB, should I buy the standalone 120GB hard drive or purchase the new Xbox 360 Elite?
A.  For current owners looking for larger storage options, we recommend you purchase the standalone 120GB hard drive.  This product is designed for current owners and includes a migration kit to move all of your data from your 20GB HDD to the new 120GB HDD.  The Xbox 360 Elite console on the other hand is designed for new owners and therefore does not include a migration kit in the box.    

Q.  Got it, thanks for the advice on which item to buy, but I am pretty set on upgrading to the Xbox 360 Elite, how can I do this?  
A.  We realize that around the launch of the Xbox 360 Elite that some folks may in fact want to upgrade from their current console.  For those consumers interested in doing this, we will be providing a solution to obtain a migration kit from Xbox.com completely free of charge.  You can get more information about obtaining one of these kits from www.xbox.com/en-US/support/systemuse/xbox360/console/datamigration.htm


Note that there are some differences between migration data from one hard drive to another using the same console and doing this migration to a completely new console.  See the differences outlined in more detail below.

Q.  So how does the migration work and what should I know about it before I start?
A.  Here are the step by step instructions for the migration and some important details to keep in mind:

If you are upgrading to the Xbox 360 Elite:
  1. Turn off both of your consoles and remove the 120GB hard drive from your Xbox 360 Elite console.
  2. Attach your current 20GB hard drive to your Xbox 360 Elite console, then disconnect all accessories from the console's controller ports.
  3. Connect and turn on a controller, which you'll need during content transfer.
  4. Connect one end of the transfer cable to your 120GB hard drive.
  5. Connect the other end of the transfer cable to one of the USB ports of your Xbox 360 Elite console.

  6. Insert the included Hard Drive Transfer Disc and follow the on-screen instructions.
  7. To begin using your 120GB hard drive after content transfer is complete, remove your 20GB hard drive from your Elite console and attach your 120GB hard drive.  
If you are upgrading to the standalone 120GB HDD and using your current Xbox 360, the process above is the same except that you don’t disconnect your 20GB HDD and instead attach the transfer cable to your new 120GB HDD.  You then put in the software, follow the on screen instructions and when done remove your 20GB HDD and replace it with your new 120GB HDD.

IMPORTANT NOTES  
  • This is a one time transfer process, so you need to make sure you are ready to permanently move this content to your new drive before beginning.  
  • Do not start playing games or downloading content on the new 120GB HDD before migration, as this information will be lost and replaced during the migration process.
  • If you want to start using your Elite before you have your migration kit in hand, we highly recommend that you remove the 120GB HDD and use your current 20GB hard drive in its place until you are ready to migrate.  
  • If you are migrating to Elite, we suggest you watch any movie rentals you may have on your old drive before migrating, as the license for this content is tied to the console it was downloaded on and cannot be moved.
  • You should also know that licenses for downloaded content like Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV shows from Xbox LIVE are tied to the console they were originally downloaded on.
    • This means that while all of your Xbox LIVE Arcade games and TV shows will transfer, you will have to be connected to Xbox LIVE (to verify your identity) in order to access that content.  
    • This process is permanent, so do not transfer your data if it is important to you to be able to access this content offline.  
    • Consumers that purchase the standalone 120GB HDD will not experience any change in the way they access their data online or offline since they are using the same console and only upgrading to a larger hard drive.  
  • After migrating, your 20GB HDD will be completely erased, but will remain fully compatible with any Xbox 360.  Content can only ever be moved from the smaller drive to the larger one—and only once.
  • Depending on the amount of content to be moved, the transfer process can take about an hour, the software will estimate this time before you begin.  
  • If the transfer is interrupted for any reason, your content will remain on your existing 20-GB hard drive. You can restart the transfer process at any time prior to completion.
While I know there are a lot of details here, we want to make sure everyone is fully informed on the details and differences between upgrading to the 120GB HDD and upgrading to Xbox 360 Elite.  In addition to these details, Major Nelson has done a video step by step as well with Albert Penello which will be available later today at:  www.majornelson.com.

Sorry for all the official mumbo jumbo, we have to clearly explain this stuff.  Now let me tell you what it was like for my migration to Elite.  I took my current account and 20GB HDD, which has all kinds of game saves, 50+ XBLA games, TV shows, Shadowrun Beta, etc.  I also had 1.5 GB of free space on my 20GB, so a pretty typical situation I think for a core gamer that would likely be upgrading.  Here is what I did:
  1. Opening and setting up the Elite was a breeze, used all my existing connections took about 2 mins.  I did switch out for the HDMI cable and looks great.  
  2. Following the instructions above, removed the 120GB from the Elite, connected my 20GB HDD to the console and then plugged the transfer cable into the 120GB drive.  
  3. After turning on the box and selecting a couple set-up things like English language, etc I loaded the transfer kit disc in the drive and it auto launched to a simple set-up screen.  It reminded me that I can only transfer my content over once and to be sure I was ready.  It also estimated that based on the amount of data I had it would take 1 hour and 36 mins to make the transfer.  
  4. I was then prompted to begin the transfer.  It has a simple progress bar telling my how many minutes I had left.  It actually seemed to take a little less time than was estimated.  
  5. I then removed the old drive and put my new updated 120GB drive on the Elite.  
The best part was that it was as if I picked up exactly where I left off.  It transferred EVERYTHING off of my old drive, all my XBLA games, games saves, TV shows, videos, etc.  I quickly jumped to the high def episode of South Park, worked great.  Then I ran to try my XBLA games, also all worked great.  I checked my game saves, they are all there.  I even launched the Shadowrun Beta and it worked fine.  Then I went to see how much free space I had, was about 90GB.  So I went to go look for pre-loaded content and basically found some promotional videos and demos that were preloaded.  I quickly deleted all of the demos and preloaded videos and was left with 95GB of free space.  The extra space feels awesome, cannot wait to hit the store for more high def movies and TV shows.  

Net-net, I really must highlight how I found the process overall to be very simple, easy to follow and worked even better than I expected.  I know that the current solution requires that I be logged into LIVE in order to play my existing Arcade games and TV show downloads.  But I would imagine that a lot of folks are in the same situation as me, where they auto-connect to Xbox LIVE all the time anyway.  Nice thing was that I did not have to download anything again, it all moved over with the cable and SW.  In just over an hour I was done and am thoroughly enjoying my Elite.  

Hope this clears up the questions you all may have had about this, we will try our best to answer any other inquiries or scenarios in future posts.  Thanks!