How to Replace Failed Xbox One Hard Drive with SSD

This video is a walkthrough on how I replaced a failed hard drive on a Xbox One console. This console started freezing during games and would sometimes make a chirping sound. It's pretty old so I had a feeling the drive was finally bad. One word of caution - make sure to use a drive that is 500GB or larger. If you use a driver smaller than 500GB (such as a 480GB drive), you might get a E101 error when performing the offline system update.
Links to parts used:
Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA adapter: amzn.to/3o8E9I2
Crucial 1TB SSD I used for the new drive: amzn.to/3RG40os
Sandisk 16GB USB flash drive: amzn.to/3zaDf4k
Shortcuts to steps:
0:00 - Removing the plastics
1:00 - Removing the front panel
1:25 - Remove screws from the metal case
1:41 - Remove speaker
1:45 - Remove wireless card
2:04 - Remove the top metal case
2:21 - Removing the hard drive
2:51 - E101 error from drives less than 500GB in size
3:25 - Preparing the new drive
5:27 - Install the new drive
5:52 - Put everything back together
7:00 - Prepare a USB drive for Offline System Update
7:43 - Download Offline System Update (OSU1)
9:05 - Perform Offline System update on Xbox One console
9:44 - Run through initial setup screens

[@jeroenkarman]

This is just how a tutorial should be. No endless crap, just a quick tour through the proces!

[@RyanGosling34]

Just wow. This is the one and only tutorial anybody should watch. I'll be using this tutorial to fix my Xbox One X sometime in the future.

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad it helped!

[@digitalray2760]

Just swapped a failed hdd with an ssd using your easy to follow video. Now my daughter and I can continue playing monster hunter rise :) Thanks!

[@multi_kills1336]

Just saw your video from 5 years ago👍 glad to see your still uploading

[@TheServerSupreme]

Great video! Used your vid for a HDD to SSD swap on my xbox one and gave her a cleaning with some fresh thermal paste. Just finishing with the update and I'm ready to start installing games!

[@StreetHawksUK]

Thanks for this Tutorial Dude! Smoothest Guide I've watched to date! Everything on Point! & worked like a charm! Total Legend!

[@pg__]

For anyone that might wonder, 2TB is the max limit, and minimum is 500/512GB. 480GB is below the minimum and won't work using this method. There is an script that does allow using smaller HDD/SDD but it isn't really worth the effort. The best scenario for the OG X1 is an internal 500GB SSD and an external SSD. It loads fast and doesn't make too much sound.

[@rob7360]

I just got a Crucial MX 500 SDD 1TB on Prime Day for a great price. Can I use this 1TB drive in my OG Xbox One or should I exchange for a 500GB SSD?

[@kaibyoo]

My Xbox is 320. How is that Even possible?

[@bradp213]

@@kaibyoobecause you touch yourself at night.

[@akoskey]

I was just asking about this. I want to put the 2TB SSD.

[@justinevans7501]

Such a great video. Thank you for your skill, and clarity. So very helpful

[@sunnysideandy]

Great tutorial, followed it exactly. Pay attention to the sequence of installing the panels at the end; the top section must go first, and then the front.

[@mr.tuckers2848]

Excellent! Must be an Engineer who created this tutorial. Very thorough and easy to follow. Thank you!

[@Denymeister]

Fantastic guide. My old Xbox lives another day. Thank you

[@marcjurowicz5366]

Great tutorial! I just upgraded to the same 1TB Crucial SSD on my 1st gen Xbox One and everything went great. Thank you again!

[@Pedicab_London_Channel]

Quick, detailed, professional.

[@lourod9001]

Wow great video saved me a ton of time and headache. Very clear to follow and execute.

[@mike_t_]

Xb one turned on then off - thought I was going to have to upgrade consoles. Found this gem of a video - followed instructions to the T - worked like a charm. $75 for all items max.

[@hawkgoalie30]

So far so good. The beginning of the year I had 2 crapped out Xb1. This just helped me fix my second one! Thanks!

[@OVBSNM]

Perfect guide, thanks to you I was able to solve the problem on my Xbox 🙏

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad it helped, and thanks for the Super!

[@syoungky]

This was an awesome tutorial video. Keep up the good content

[@seder87]

Great Video, did the replacement just now and it worked like a charm. Thank you!

[@Dani4LA0]

It is faster?

[@akoskey]

This video helped me fix my Xbox and get back to gaming. I thought it was done for. I enjoyed getting back at it. Thank you!!!!

[@guan3753]

No confusing stuff and great instructions, thankd

[@MikeReiner]

Subbed for the concise no bs tutorial presentation alone.

[@thefiXfiles]

Thanks brother. Appreciate you

[@MikeReiner]

@@thefiXfiles I just upgraded my old Xbox one to a 1tb SSD following this guide and it couldn’t have gone smoother.

[@holycrapitsthisguy4415]

Me too. Good video

[@georgehennon6415]

Great video! Used the same ssd as you and sata to usb adapter and everything works great. My old hard drive was failing and needed a factory reset every time it would get completely turned off, so I really needed a new one. The only thing is, on boot-up, I no longer get the green loading screen, just a black screen until the home menu pops up. Doesn't bother me but thought I'd mention it for other people attempting this.

[@mundiasimfukwe3135]

You have to put the bootanim.dat file in your new harddrive for it to back the green loading screen.

[@NITROexpress17]

It’s because that green screen is normally there while the is boots up from the hdd but now that the is is loading faster it skips it entirely because it’s not needed. It’s actually interesting because Xbox ones have had this for a while now in the code so Microsoft really did think about putting in ssds at the time of the ones development

[@nateduhgreat1871]

@@NITROexpress17I used this video to upgrade to an ssd as well. I also had a black screen while booting up. But on the next update, the green screen returned on boot up.

[@anthonyduffy8062]

How much faster is the loadfing time ?? tks

[@kennylingusdingalingus2773]

Thank you, the surprise battlefront gameplay is awesome. I fuggin love that game.

[@thefiXfiles]

Same here!

[@eviilbanana]

U answered all my questions that I've been looking for tyvm

[@Taunos7]

This is an amazing tutorial, helped me a lot 😊

[@charlesmoore8511]

Excellent step by step video

[@tehsalt]

Got my xbox working. I purchased the same 1tb ssd you used. Big thanks.

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad I could help. Enjoy!

[@djrellco]

Whew! The 500gb threshold is key to doing the offline update. I used a 480gb too, used a 500gb and it's updating.

[@toddsorenson8975]

Is 480 the issue or is less than 500 the issue? So a 250 or 128 will not work in guessing?

[@louislewis4838]

Thanks for the video. Really helpful. This is the best instructional video I have seen on KZbin. You should train KZbinrs how to make these kind of videos.

[@thefiXfiles]

Thanks for the kind words. I try to respect people’s time so they can get stuff fixed and get back to life.

[@wessoms]

Thank you! TLDR: If you are getting error E102 and think you need to replace your internal hard drive, try reinstalling the OS first. I was stuck in an infinite Error E102 loop and was ready to replace my original internal hard drive (I'd bought my Xbox used and had it for seven years so no real surprises there), and figured I'd try to move the OS to my external drive connected via USB, or remove its housing and turn it into an internal hard drive manually. Unfortunately my external hard drive uses weird connectors so I couldn't move that to be internal, and the Xbox refused to boot with no internal drive (despite an external drive and flash drive with OS plugged in). I tried reinstalling the OS to the original hard drive and, much to my surprise, that worked perfectly. Turns out I didn't even need to open my Xbox, but thanks to this well-made video I didn't cause any damage anyway.

[@IceHawk369]

So how did you update your hard drive OS?

[@demijebus6831]

I have been trying this but my Xbox won't find me the offline update option when I plug in my os usb. I think I have maybe used my Xbox for 40hrs and now it is a brick. Very frustrating.

[@omarboukharsa9955]

you may need to fomat your usb drive to NTFS @@demijebus6831

[@rollotomassi4768]

You really did an outstanding job on this video. Thanks so much

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gdparry2727]

Need to get myself that usb-sata cable. My xbox died and having tried and failed with the osu1 as is, i'll be doing a tear-down soon enough Good video - and thanks for clarifying the SSD min size too

[@anthonyduffy8062]

Fair play literally One of the best how to do. Thank you , ALSO tks as i was going to use a 250G ssd

[@BrianGunn-wj6cc]

Thanks. Great tutorial. Fixed my XBox, with failed hard drive, with no problems. Although the case is not as pretty now!

[@CoolModderJaydonX]

I find that to be a fair tradeoff.

[@johngaynor4363]

Thanks a million. This tutorial was a godsend.

[@benmatthieu]

Thanks a million, worked like a charm!!

[@loucop4]

Thanks so much!! My Xbox has been throwing errors every time I tried these things. But yours worked! Cheers mate

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad I could help

[@MATTKBAN]

Glad the internal can be upgraded. A 2tb is the max to be used as another video stated.

[@-_-Thomas-_-.]

No, a 4tb hdd can also be used, but it will be necessary to pass more, i.e. the maximum partition of 2tb will have to be increased manually to 4tb, through applications on pc

[@Six-6-strings]

👏👏👏👏👏 Well done. I thought my One was done. Had a 1TB I just pulled from my Dell laptop worked perfectly. Thx

[@AdidasSoccerNick]

Thanks! Just a heads up for others who tried, i tried to do what the microsoft page said, looked up OS Version and chose OSU2 as it instructed me, got error, went straight for OSU1, no problem! I will comment, it seems console startup isnt noticeably faster, but scrolling menus on home page is smoother so i call it a win!

[@aary.d443]

im pretty sure the startup sequence is stored on the built in, not removable flash memory, and that's why its a bit slow coz its also a bit old now

[@FaustRoland]

Thanks for the tutorial. I was able to successfully replace my failed HDD.

[@thefiXfiles]

Sweet! Glad you got it working.

[@jose2throwed]

Great tutorial it worked for a 2tb Thanks a million

[@Rebecca_Lin9494]

Super helpful! Thank you!

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad it helped!

[@SkYzvybz]

Amazing and informative video!!!

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad you liked it!

[@garrettlowell7637]

Thank you. Was able to revive and keep using the Xbox. Much appreciated.

[@thefiXfiles]

Great to hear!

[@elvismakwana4723]

The best video ever thank you so much for sharing ❤

[@sudorelabs4901]

Thank u so much! Fab video. Followed to a T and now have two xboxs in my room for couch playing with remote play

[@thefiXfiles]

Nice! Glad it helped you get it working👌

[@sudorelabs4901]

@thefiXfiles yer really good vid. Have a xbox one x on main TV and xbox one on remote play via laptop.

[@dustylyle1133]

Great tutorial but I had to hold the sync & eject button then push power button until I heard two beeps. Only then did my Xbox recognize the USB and started the update automatically. Still worked just like your video. Went with 2.5” SSD @2TB. Now moving my games from external to internal and transfer speeds went from 120-150Mbps to 450-600Mbps!

[@joshuannamdi5242]

My Xbox isn’t recognizing my usb drive either. Holding down the sync and eject buttons isn’t fixing the problem. Any ideas?

[@dustylyle1133]

@@joshuannamdi5242 Keep trying, took me like 6-7 attempts to get the beeps then all of a sudden started working

[@joshuannamdi5242]

@@dustylyle1133 the issue was my USB drive. I used second USB drive and the Xbox recognized that one.

[@Arenawars]

U just helped me out bro bro appreciate

[@OMGRC]

Thank you very much for this video👏This was easy to follow and straightforward. My issue was I swapped out my 1tb SSD to reinstall OG hard drive for some reason didn’t just work when reinstalled. Thank you 👍

[@AdamCuker]

Great video! Did an SSD swap and it works great.

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad you got it working!

[@ChrisNZXT]

@@thefiXfiles do i have to do all this bull honkey or is there a chance i can just hook it up to my xbox and get it to work?

[@braljud]

@@ChrisNZXT do you need to cook the pasta in boiling water, or can you eat it strait away without cooking it?

[@inevitable_eventuality]

Thank you. I have a 1TB that would be sweet in my Xbox one! Now i can install it !!!

[@WiFi2021]

I think this is probably one of the best instruction videos i have seen on internet - but i have one question - if you are replacing the drive, what about everything on the old drive, does that not need to be transferred to new drive ?

[@jmoser220]

Did you notice any improvement in loading times after swapping for the SSD? Great video... I almost made the 480GB mistake too. Glad I watched before purchasing.

[@thefiXfiles]

Loading screens are a little faster, but honestly it wasn’t the huge difference I was hoping for. I’d consider it a minor improvement. Hope this wasn’t a disappointment lol

[@Shaheer-PK]

@@thefiXfiles can I replace my 500gb Xbox hhd to a 1Tb samsung ssd

[@Shaheer-PK]

oh never mind

[@ahampel22]

It works! Thank you!

[@samuelbx]

Your a life saver thanks

[@new_game2589]

I owe you a beer or your beverage of choice! Thank you kindly sir, you saved my xbox.

[@Creamen]

CLI rulez ! Thanks for sharing.

[@thefiXfiles]

Lol sometimes the GUI just don’t cut it!

[@tenchikai26]

hey loved the video, by chance does your kinect work with this latest update? i had to do something similar and im getting an error stating "there was a problem with kinect" even when the kinect isnt attached. so im trying a reinstall of the os to see if that will help... but any suggestions as to why that could be happening?

[@whitemew]

omg thanks for the warning, that was EXACTLY the SSD drive I wanted to replace it with.

[@demijebus6831]

Just curious. Is it necessary to cmd the new hard drive? Other than the prime input it looked as if you just did an ntfs format.

[@jason1413stine]

Instead of using the command prompt to format the SSD can you just right click the SSD > select Format > choose NTFS as type > quick format? Or if it’s not showing up initially just do it through the GUI in disk management?

[@gilbertayala8549]

It work perfect thanks 👍👍

[@zombiez8mybrainz]

Damn good video! All worked for me...

[@thefiXfiles]

Glad it helped!

[@tonydeater3596]

Thank you for the great info. My Xbox is now updated with a 1TB SSD. Did lose the Boot up Screen? Any Ideas?

[@adeharris4457]

Excellent tutorial mate I had already cloned my drive to ssd but when I attempted to copy the partions back to a mechanical drive to sell the xbox it wouldn't recognise the drive in aomei strange I just used your partition tutorial & saved a headache lol thank you 👌

[@PeterLedergerber]

Hey, great video, just a quick question, i did buy a Xbox one Elite with 1TB Hybrid drive. I want to put a 2TB SSD in it. The console is used, but has nothing on it from me, so i want to whipe it clean completely. If i follow all steps you say in this video exactly, would that work for my Situation too? Or would this not work with a 2TB SSD in a Xbox One Elite? It would be great if you could help me out here.

[@jamesnicol9810]

I'm looking at opening my Xbox to clean and re paste . Looking at this I may change the drive to SSD for more storage . Can I ask if you noticed faster loading even using apps and starting up games

[@georgegouvalaris9592]

perfect video! I have a question. I have a 512gb sata3 ssd hard drive, will it work on the xbox or will it give me an error again? thank you!

[@erickalvarez6486]

The best freaking tutorial, amazing bro, you the freaking goat, be careful or I'll kiss you if I see you on the streets

[@demijebus6831]

Awesome thanks.

[@jameswarren5621]

Is the hard drive being bad the thing that won't let a console update finish

[@MillionairX]

quality video bud. did the xbox load faster with the ssd?

[@thefiXfiles]

Thanks for the kind words. There wasn’t much of a speed increase. I think loading screens go a little quicker, but it’s still about the same as it was before.

[@emuqatash]

thank you

[@user-wu5pc3xq3e]

is this important to format the ssd in cmd or can be used another programms for this

[@NachoXbox]

Wow.... im looking days over a days over found a video like this, quickly, simple, and good explaining. I have a xbox one fat so, tell me why the first ssd wouldn't work?? And i just enter to the microsoft page and the page says me that for the fat versions, i need to install 2 osus wtf, you just installed osu1 and runs perfectly. I have in mind buying a new hard drive to my xbox.. good video greetings from chile.

[@HailAnts]

I thought the Xbox hard drive had to be specially formatted as exFAT and assigned multiple partitions with unique names via a PowerShell script in order for it to work? Does booting with the OSU1 thumb drive bypass all that?

[@moathslamah7234]

big thanks 😁

[@JorgieTV01]

Thank you

[@itsme_jd4571]

thanks bro 👍

[@joerinaldi5]

I tried following your video , but didn't work for me. I purchased a WD blue hdd 1tb in size. I formatted it the way you suggest, but wants to initialize as MBR not in GUID like the original 500gb hdd. The video is great for dissembling and re install.

[@adambrown2046]

This is how it should be perfect instructions cheers also just wondering is there any difference in loading times on the fat Xbox one mode with the SSD ?l?

[@thefiXfiles]

Thanks! Really appreciate it. As for load times, it honestly wasn’t much of a difference lol. I was hoping it would be blazing fast but it’s about the same. Loading screens in games are slightly faster but nothing amazing.

[@owenjureidini1015]

Was your antentia cable picks bent

[@samiel-masri3536]

Great great great tutorial. This work great for me, but I have a concern. I installed a 960 gig SSD from Kingston, but the Xbox is only seeing it as 365 gigs. Is the issue where you have to buy either a 500 gig SSD or 1tb SSD or 2 terabyte SSD still an issue?

[@jorge-uq9gi]

Same for me.. did you got a solution ?

[@robbarro4953]

So I did this using the hard drive linked here, and everything seemed to go just fine during the switchout, but when I fired it all back up and turned it on I get no video.. Anyone know what may be causing that? The device powers up and makes some chimes, but no video at all.. I am guessing maybe I knocked something loose inside?

[@kevincampos6394]

Easy vid thx. Got gifted an Xbox so will be swapping. Why not jus right click and format drive? Unless it didnt work.

[@dandestroyer666]

What if we just want to swap an already formatted for xbox one hdd for another one of higher storage?

[@astroniun]

Qeastion are you able to take out that storage and then put it in a pc

[@harrysaunders7764]

Can I put another exact Xbox hard drive from my old Xbox in to my new one both the same Xbox and hard drive

[@81brassglass79]

how essential is configuring the drive before you install it? edit, i got the cable and im doing the same steps but it only gets to 1% and quits on the offline update

[@brittzank8987]

Will this fix my green screen of death? I've tried factory resetting and it just gives me errors.

[@lenmobb8729]

Do I need the USB to SATA adapter or can I just Connect the SSD to my Internal SATA?

[@samandjacobdnd5965]

Can you just swap with any ssd or does it have to have anything g specific with it.

[@sudorelabs4901]

Ummm my xbox is stuck in preparing xbox. Can I still stick the USB in and try and update the hard drive that is already inn?

[@Lone_Star86]

Is it necessary to partition the new ssd or hdd?

[@pavelpriessnitz3040]

Is there any improvement when switching to ssd?

[@crsxbike2164]

Idk if my tool set is different but t9 feels very sloppy, mine is definitely a t10 on those top screws

[@alan7117]

what's the purpose of connecting the drive to pc? can I just install it to the device without any formatting or copying? I'll reinstall everything once I restart my xbox, is that gonna work?

[@michaelwork5399]

When formatting the drive on the computer do I need to use the usb 3 to sata adapter or can I connect it to the inside sata power and data cable on the pc and formate it that way without having to buy the cable?

[@thefiXfiles]

Yeah I don’t see why not. You should be able to connect it as a SATA drive and format it. I probably would have done it that way if I wasn’t making a how to video. I actually considered doing it that way but thought it might add some confusion if folks had to enable the SATA ports on the motherboard or something.