Xbox 360 Hard Drive Transfer Kit out of stock [Update: back in stock!]
by Christopher Grant 
{ Nov 11th 2009 at 5:40PM } 
If the recent price drop has encouraged you to hedge your bets and replace your aging, bound-to-die Xbox 360 with a quiet, new, Jasper-equipped 120GB Elite, you'll want to pay attention. As relayed to us by tipster Paolo, and confirmed by a Microsoft representative, the Hard Drive Transfer Kit – which is currently available for eligible consumers by calling 1-800-4MY-XBOX – is "out of stock at the moment" and the company does "not know when inventories will be restored."
Of course, it's "working on resolving this shortage as quickly as possible" but in the interim, if you want to get data of your old 'box and you didn't buy the 120GB drive at retail (which comes with the HDD transfer kit) Microsoft Support recommends that you "use your old hard drive." Not the most elegant solution, especially if you're trying to unload that old Xbox. We've asked Microsoft to clarify when we might expect the Kits to be restocked and we'll share with you if and when we hear back.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:43PM
Smooth, Microsoft. Right before the holiday season too.
I had one, but I sold it along with my 20GB drive when I upgraded to a 60.
Marty @ Nov 11th 2009 7:26PM
I've got one if anyone wants to pony up a smooth $100.
Special Agent Steve @ Nov 11th 2009 9:21PM
I'll give you a nickel, and a promise NOT to betray you.
embassy @ Nov 11th 2009 9:31PM
A trick I used:
Step 1: Go to Wal-Mart (or a similar non-videogame-centric retailer) and buy a 120gb HDD.
Step 2: Use the included transfer cable for whatever your need may be.
Step:3: Put it back in the box and return it.
Step 4: PROFIT!
DeepFriedSushi @ Nov 12th 2009 12:10AM
neogaf had a thread where people would "pay it forward" and would pass around transfer cables, since you're really only likely to use the transfer cable once i wonder why people dont do this more often.
Joe @ Nov 12th 2009 12:12PM
@DeepFriedSushi: One word: eBay
rogXue @ Nov 11th 2009 5:45PM
thank god I got one after the last red ring a month ago. dodged a bullet there.
oh here's a pointer it took 7 hrs to xfer 100 gigs of data. so delete what you don't need before doing the process!
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:46PM
Yes, you should delete any retail games you've installed to the HDD. And probably any music as well.
LegendaryRedass @ Nov 11th 2009 6:26PM
It's a dangerous game, hd transfers. My halo 3 save got corrupted, and I had just finished cortana on legendary. That lvl was a bitch too.
R (Planeteers | Power of Penile Pulse) @ Nov 11th 2009 7:54PM
@warrenEBB
Why pay for a memory card that may or may not work (not all saved games, e.g. fable 2 saves, can be put on memory cards) when the kit is avaliable for FREE from Microsoft?
Free. They dont charge you anything for it. Not even shipping.
Mullwell @ Nov 11th 2009 5:46PM
Crap, I was just going to pickup a MW2 bundle today to replace my launch console and call in for this. Is there another way to move data between consoles?
mietha CAG @ Nov 11th 2009 5:55PM
Yeah, switch the hard drives. :) If you mean between HDs though, no, not to my knowledge. Also be warned, and I've heard this from several different sources, data on HDs can only be transferred once total EVER. Thus if you transferred from a 20 to a 120 as I did, you can NOT transfer from the 120 to the 250. This is the sole reason I did not buy the MW2 bundle. I just hope they fix this (well, in the first place, ever) before the bundles go bye bye.
BraveJhawk @ Nov 11th 2009 5:56PM
I saw there was a 3rd party kit on amazon when I ordered mine from Microsoft about 3 weeks ago.
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:58PM
No, I'm pretty sure you can keep upgrading, you just can't downgrade. So, you would be able to go from a 120 to a 250, but not viceversa.
I'd ask, though.
warrenEBB @ Nov 11th 2009 6:03PM
yeah, just get a mem card. i did this last month when i got the elite. Why pay for a one time use transfer kit, when you can use an official $30 card? this "issue" seems overblown.
Card only has about 500mb of space though. soooo, i had to redownload some arcade games (this must be why they had that limit on arcade game file sizes initially).
Massmass @ Nov 11th 2009 6:06PM
Can't you use the memory card for most of it?
Massmass @ Nov 11th 2009 6:07PM
A little late to the reply I see. :X
Seishino @ Nov 11th 2009 6:16PM
Ask around. Most 360 owners that I know of have upgraded once. That's a lot of idle transfer kits lying around.
Jonafun @ Nov 11th 2009 6:12PM
I have one if you want it, just toss me a couple bucks for the shipping. oregonjon at optonline dot net
mietha CAG @ Nov 11th 2009 6:20PM
Can anyone confirm (i.e. has done it) that you can transfer the same data more than once? That would totally change things for me.
Jonafun @ Nov 11th 2009 6:23PM
You can go up in size, transferring data, but never down.
Killer rin @ Nov 11th 2009 7:14PM
I Had a transfer cable shipped to be awhile ago, so i just pulled out the manual, and it states it can be used more than once
BUT HERE ARE THE RULES!
20 to 20
20 to 60
20 to 120
20 to 250
60 to 60
60 to 120
60 to 250
120 to 120
120 to 250
250 to 250
and those are the rules
EXCEPT... YOU CANT GO BACKWARDS, for example
you can't go
250 to 120
250 to 60
250 to 20
120 to 60
120 to 20
60 to 20
okay so that is all any more questions ask me
Mullwell @ Nov 11th 2009 7:22PM
Thanks for the answers. Will probably just pickup a memory card, can use that to play at friends places as well.
I think the issues about multiple upgrades wasnt the cable but the drive itself. Say you go from a 20 to a 60, you can't then go from that same 60 to anything else. It's been flagged as upgraded or something. I have no way to test this though (obviously ;)
pibs @ Nov 12th 2009 12:54PM
I use xplorer360 to transfer and backup my files. I also used a resigner and hash block calculator to fix my Fable 2 and Rock Band 2 game saves. The problem is that MS ties the game saves to the console so when I tried playing them on my new 360 they read as corrupt. I called them up and they said there was nothing I could do.... Their official cable and disc did nothing for these two save files.
For anybody having trouble with corrupt gamesaves, use Xbox 360 Hash Block Calculator and xplorer360 to backup and transfer files from your hdd. Because a gamers worst fear is loosing those 100+ hours game saves :(
SolidSnakeX @ Nov 11th 2009 5:48PM
Yeah thank a lot brother he left me with 4 gigs of memory on the Xbox360 20 Gig lame! Heck I tried even to bid on Ebay lost people are so damn greedy! Well I'm not! I gave my Wii with 8 games to my Sister for her kids for Christmas..how about you people?..
Alton Brown [ XBL: LordToastington] @ Nov 11th 2009 5:53PM
Que?
Anthony M. @ Nov 11th 2009 5:53PM
what is this I don't even
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:55PM
Eh?
Fenrir @ Nov 11th 2009 6:23PM
THEN WHO WAS PHONE
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 5:51PM
This thread outta be good.
:grabs beer and buffalo wings:
charlie b. @ Nov 11th 2009 5:52PM
i also have a bag of Marzipan Joy Joys
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:53PM
I know, right?
I sense a disturbance in the Force...
Captain Planet [Planeteer | Power of Captain Planet] @ Nov 11th 2009 6:10PM
I don't need Marzipan Joy Joy's. I need some napkins, tubby. And maybe some peanuts. Sea salt preferably.
Orchard Pear @ Nov 11th 2009 5:51PM
Xbox 360 Hard Drive Transfer Kits: Now Only available in a bundle with 12 month Xbox Live Gold subscription cards!
Get yours today for the low, low price of $49.99!
Spike (GT: SitriStahl) @ Nov 11th 2009 6:04PM
technically, wouldn't that mean free? since XBL gold cards usually retail for $49.99
Tyger @ Nov 11th 2009 6:38PM
Surely you can troll better than that. You're giving them a bad name.
Kevin949 @ Nov 11th 2009 5:52PM
I'll sell someone mine for the low low "Microsoft Suggested Retail Price" of $99.99. When the next USB 3.0 one comes out, the price will drop on this one to 79.99 until it's out of stock completely.
Sean @ Nov 11th 2009 6:03PM
Uhhh... why are you under the impression there will be a USB 3.0 version of this device?
Kevin949 @ Nov 11th 2009 6:32PM
I guess you missed the joke.
dagamer43 @ Nov 11th 2009 5:52PM
Shame, I'd love to use this on a hard drive that isn't horribly overpriced. Oh well.
acme @ Nov 11th 2009 5:53PM
ill sell mine if anyone wants
Darth Bradwart, The Dark Lord of the Sith @ Nov 11th 2009 5:56PM
...You mean you can't just back it up to an external drive and slap in a new one? You need a kit?
/s
InTheCatBoxAgain @ Nov 12th 2009 9:23AM
My question to you is, how are you supposed to back up your data to another drive without this kit?
AirIntake @ Nov 12th 2009 10:58AM
I just transferred everything from my 20G to my 120G on my new elite using a memory card and re-downloading. Microsoft servers are fast, so I re-downloaded my 10gb of DLC in under 4 hours. All of my saved games then easily fit onto my 256mb memory card that I already had. I did the entire transfer during intermissions while watching hockey.
Dustin @ Nov 11th 2009 6:01PM
Sony needs to make one so I can copy my Copy Protected Rock Band 2 save from my 20GB to my Slim.
Ashitaka @ Nov 11th 2009 6:55PM
wtf are you talking about? xD
Dustin @ Nov 11th 2009 10:16PM
Some PS3 games' game save file is copy protected to the system. So I cant transfer my Rock band 2 game save from my 20GB to my Slim.
Ashitaka @ Nov 12th 2009 7:09AM
That's up to Harmonix then, not Sony.
In fact, the way Sony handled copying files is much better than the way Microsoft handled it. All you need is a USB flash drive and you can copy all the save files you want. If they're copy protected, then there's nothing Sony can do. Charging for a transfer kit is just another way of Microsoft ripping off its consumers, Sony would never do it.
GoingToAlpha @ Nov 11th 2009 6:03PM
With the exception of game saves you can log in to xbox.com and go to your "download history" in your account and resubmit everything to your console download queue. It'll take a while but its free.
I know the arcades come with 256/512MB of on-board storage, which you can use for game saves. Just re-download DLC, demo's, retail games, and videos. Not sure if the new MW2 consoles have onboard memory or just the HDD space.
I just upgraded from a 20GB to a 120GB and i transferred all my saves and my gamertag to the on-board space on my arcade, and re-downloaded the 15+GB of stuff while I slept.
If you don't have on-board space, Amazon.com has the 512MB memory cards for $25. Then you can take your saves and your gamertag with you between consoles.
warrenEBB @ Nov 11th 2009 6:03PM
this is alarmist reporting.
MS makes it hard to get a transfer kit because it's a crap deal. one time only. deletes data from original drive after the transfer. lame.
Just get a $30 xbox memory card (512 mb). they are 25 bucks on amazon.
I did this when i bought an elite last month. left a lot of stuff on the old 20gb drive, which i gave to my girlfriend. This way i can still log in with my account on her machine, and play my downloaded rock band tracks.