If you have ever had any problems with your Microsoft Xbox and have returned it to a store, you know that swapping out the hard drive is relatively easy.  In most cases, as long as you get the same console, you can easily swap out hard drives and keep your save data.  Transferring data between Xbox 360 hard drives can be done, but it is not foolproof nor is it as easy as other consoles.  Thus, swapping out the hard drive can be life or death for any gamer who has invested a serious amount of time in playing on their Xbox 360.

In order to swap out the hard drive, you want to power off your console, disconnect all cables and unplug it from its power source. Once those steps are taken, you will sit the console upright so the hard drive is facing up. From there, you press in the small button towards the top of the hard drive and gently pull up until the unit breaks away. Pull the hard drive completely away from the system, set it aside and you can go about putting in the new one.

The new one simply falls right into sync with where the old one sat. You want to ensure that it lays flat, you will hear a slight pop when it connects to the system. You want to make sure it sits flat, that you do hear that pop, otherwise it will not be properly inserted into the unit and will not work when you turn the Xbox 360 back on.

For now, you can only use Microsoft-approved Xbox 360 hard drives with the console.  Every Xbox 360 console, with the exception of the Arcade version, come with a hard drive.  Depending on the version, you can have up to 160 GB of hard drive storage space on your 360.  You can also utilize multiple hard drives and profiles on the device if you are gaming so much you require the extra space.  Swapping out the 360 hard drive is one of the simplest of the gaming systems on the market today.