X Box 360 and USB Storage

steven123steven123 Posts: 3,237
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Despite having a 320GB X Box 360 I still find I am constantly running out of space with the games for gold free games and my existing digital and physical games collection. I know I can delete games I'm not using to free space but I do like to have as much as possible of my library installed and ready to play so I don't have to hunt for discs or wait for downloads.

I have heard the 360 can have extra storage added by USB pen drives but haven't dabbled with it before. I have a spare 64GB USB pen I would like to use for 360 storage but have heard the maximum supported is 32GB? Would it be possible to partition the 64GB pen drive into two 32GB partitions? If so how would I do this?

Also do USB drives work like the internal hard drive or are there some things you cannot store on or run from USB storage?

Comments

  • 2dshmuplover2dshmuplover Posts: 8,271
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    Unfortuintaly not, you'll get one 32gb partition off that USB stick. Only two can be used in conjunction with each other but of course if you don't mind plugging them in when needed then you can use as many as you like.

    I was really hoping to hear something about a 1TB HDD for 360 at E3, they really need to do this or remiove the USB restrictions like the X1.

    Lastly, yes everything you can do with an internal drive you can do with an external USB device, due to the speed of flash drives I find some games benefit from being played this way (GTA V comes to mind) so they're always handy to have.
  • steven123steven123 Posts: 3,237
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    Unfortuintaly not, you'll get one 32gb partition off that USB stick. Only two can be used in conjunction with each other but of course if you don't mind plugging them in when needed then you can use as many as you like.

    I just remembered my X Box 360S is actually the model with an internal 4GB, I added the 320GB hard disk myself. So there are already two storage units installed (hard drive and internal memory). Since there is a limit of two memory units does that mean the 4GB will count as one and I can only add one memory stick of upto 32GB or does internal storage not count?

    As a side note, do you know if the internal 4GB flash memory would be faster than the HDD? If so I might try and copy my smaller games to it, maybe my indie games, though unfortunately it's so small it's of limited use.
  • 2dshmuplover2dshmuplover Posts: 8,271
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    The 4gb internal MU won't count so you have that on top as an additional extra. Yep the internal flash memory is faster than the HDD. Copying the indie games to it is a good idea, certainly if you have a lot of them clogging up your HDD. :)
  • steven123steven123 Posts: 3,237
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    I ordered two of these 32GB units http://www.ebuyer.com/543102-toshiba-transmemory-32gb-white-usb-2-0-flash-drive-thnu32hay-bl5 were on offer for £6.99. They are only USB2 but I believe even the 360S predates USB3 so I doubt it will be an issue and I have read user reviews saying they work in the 360 so should be good to go.

    I assume a new (unformatted) drive can be plugged right in and formatted on the 360 itself or do you have to prepare the drive on a PC e.g. format to FAT32?

    With the two 32GB sticks and the internal storage that should put me up to 380 odd GB total, which I think should be sufficient for the time being at least, though I agree it would be much better if Microsoft just allowed any size of storage so that larger USBs and external HDDs could be used. At this late stage in the 360s life I doubt they are going to make a 500GB (or larger) unit so I don't see any financial reason they couldn't, though I kind of get the impression they aren't that bothered about 360 owners now that the XBone is on the scene.
  • 2dshmuplover2dshmuplover Posts: 8,271
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    Yeah you format them to FATX via the 360 itself, plug them in and go to storage manager to configure them. Don't worry if you get a warning saying they fail to meet specifications, that can happen with some makes but doesn't mean they are too slow, just retry until they work.
  • gothergother Posts: 14,655
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    Yeah you format them to FATX via the 360 itself, plug them in and go to storage manager to configure them. Don't worry if you get a warning saying they fail to meet specifications, that can happen with some makes but doesn't mean they are too slow, just retry until they work.

    This happened with my 8gb scandisk usb stick, it works perfectly on the 360.
  • steven123steven123 Posts: 3,237
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    gother wrote: »

    Thanks but I'm going to stick with the Toshiba ones from eBuyer as I have had a LOT of bad experiences with unbranded (and branded but suspiciously cheap) memory products on eBay (mostly micro SD but had a few duff USBs too). I find many of them use compression to report the correct size but once you start copying files to them they will only take a fraction of their supposed capacity. I've had to return lots with this problem, well I say return, most of the time the sellers just refund immediately no questions asked, which suggests they have an inkling they weren't up to scratch to begin with. Not saying they are all like that but a lot are.
  • GrandPlains206GrandPlains206 Posts: 62
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    I use 2 of the 8gb scandisk ones.Im going to purchase one of the 32gb ones shown on the above link though as I paid about 8quid for the 8gb one so that is a bargain!!
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