XBOX One S Hard Drive Replacement
XBOX One S Faulty Hard Drive Replacement Or Upgrade
Difficulty Level - Medium
If you need to upgrade or replace your XBOX One S hard drive, I'll show you how to do it. You will need a replacement hard drive. You can order a blank hard drive from Amazon, I've provided the links below.
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However - You will HAVE to Pre-Partition the drive correctly for use. I will show you how to do this below.
If this is too much for you to do, you can buy the hard drive Pre-Partitioned and ready to use from my shop.
Faulty Hard Drive Symptoms
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- XBOX One S Blank Screen
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- XBOX One S Freezing on Dashboard
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- XBOX One S Error Codes
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- XBOX One S Stuck On Update
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- Perform a hard drive size upgrade
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Tools Needed
Troubleshooting Your XBOX One S Hard Drive
This is the right place to be if you think your XBOX One S has a faulty hard drive, or if you want to upgrade your XBOX One hard drive to a larger drive.
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First, you want to troubleshoot your hard drive, to see if you can get it back up and running. To do this, follow the steps below.
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If your drive turns out to be faulty, or you want to upgrade to a new or larger drive, then you will have to replace it with a Pre Partitioned hard drive. I've provided links above to Amazon if you need to buy a blank drive. If the drive is out of stock, search Amazon for "2.5" SATA Hard Drive 1TB / 2TB". You can then Partition it yourself, following our instructions.
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To do this, you will need to go to our XBOX One Hard Drive Partitioning Page, and follow the instructions there.
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FIRST THING'S FIRST THOUGH -
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If you think your XBOX One S hard drive is faulty, then the first step is to examine your faulty XBOX One symptoms.
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Does your console turn on? If you don't have any power, then its not the hard drive, most likely your Power Supply Unit. That will need replacing. Please see my XBOX One S PSU Replacement Guide for more information.
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If it turns on, do you get a picture? Is the screen blank?
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If the screen is blank, it is very likely a software or hard drive issue. Start with the XBOX One Software Problems Page.
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If you have a picture, what's on the screen? Is it an error message? If so, start with the XBOX One Software Problems Page.
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If you console is stuck in a loop, and fails to boot into the dashboard, then also, this is most likely your software or hard drive.
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Again, I will refer you to the XBOX One Software Problems page first, and follow the steps.
During the lifespan of your Xbox One console, you are most likely at some point going to be dealing with a hard drive issue.
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At the very least, your XBOX One Hard drive will need updating. Most of the time, these updates happen automatically, and you don't even have to think about it. But sometimes, you will encounter problems, software related issues, and also potentially hardware problems with the mechanical parts of the hard drive itself.
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You may also want to upgrade your hard drive, and increase the size to a 1TB or 2TB drive.
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PLEASE NOTE - You will NOT be able to just buy a blank SATA 2.5" hard drive and install it in to your console. The drive will have to be partitioned and prepared for installation. I provide videos for this, but if you just want to buy an XBOX One Hard Drive Partitioned and ready to install, you can buy them from my shop, links above.
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If you want to buy a blank hard drive, and Partition it yourself, then go to our XBOX One Hard Drive Partitioning Page for instructions.
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I'm going to take you through each of these issues, and show you how to troubleshoot the main faults, do offline updates, and change your hard drive if necessary.
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If you have a blank screen when you turn the console on, or if the console is asking you for an update, or if it is stuck in a loop or is showing you an error code, then you need to go to my XBOX One Software Troubleshooting page, and follow the instructions there first. If none of that works, then you will be guided back to this page to consider replacing your hard drive with a new one. GO AND DO THAT FIRST. (Note that the software troubleshooting for the XBOX One S is the same as for the Original XBOX One)
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The video below will show you how to get into your XBOX One S, in order to take your drive out and replace with another, for either a faulty hard drive, or an upgrade to a larger hard drive.
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If you establish that your drive is faulty, or you are upgrading to a larger drive, follow the steps in the video below, replace your drive, and then go to the XBOX One Software Page to learn how to get the OSU1 file on to your new hard drive.
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XBOX One S Hard Drive Replacement Video
STEP BY STEP
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You will need a Security Torx T8, T10, and a flat head screwdriver to get the console open. A Complete Console Repair Screwdriver kit can be bought above, from Amazon.
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1. Take a large flat head screwdriver, and locate the black bottom shell cover. You need to go around the edge of the console with the driver, putting the driver in between the white shell and the black cover, and robustly wedge between the two, until it unclips. It takes quite a bit of force to do this.
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2. You will need to remove the Microsoft seal on the back edge, which will void your warranty with Microsoft. Once the seal has been removed, pay particular attention to removing the black cover here - you may need a small flat head screwdriver to wedge it off - TAKE CARE here.
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3. Put the black cover aside.
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4. Remove all of the green screws, using a security Torx T10 screwdriver. There should be 6, not 5!
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5. At the back edge of the console, pull the chassis out from the shell, by pulling the edges of the top shell away from the chassis. This will free up the chassis, and it will easily come away from the shell. Discard the white shell.
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6. Keep the silver fan cover on (for a moment while you remove the screws from the back)
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7. Turn the console over, and remove the small torx T10 screws around the PSU and Hard Drive (see video)
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8. Now remove the silver fan cover.
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9. Pull out the hard drive. It will still be attached to the motherboard by 2 cables.
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10. Locate the 2 cables, and pull them out of the motherboard.
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11. Now that you have your hard drive out of the console, you need to remove it from its caddy, in order to replace it with a new hard drive.
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12. Remove the 8 Torx T10 screws around the caddy. Then you can pull the hard drive connector out of the bottom of the drive.
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You should now have your hard drive fully removed. You can now replace it with your Pre-Partitioned Replacement Hard Drive.
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Otherwise, you can find instructions on how to partition your hard drive on our XBOX One Hard Drive Partitioning Page.
XBOX One S Hard Drive In Its Caddy
Once you have put the replacement hard drive into its caddy, you can plug the hard drive back into the motherboard, and follow the reverse steps above to put the console back together again. Be careful with the shell - if you are unsure about re-assembly, follow the steps here.
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Just to re-iterate - your replacement hard drive must be pre-partitioned. This means it needs to be carefully prepared and formatted so that the XBOX One console recognises it, and is correctly configured to accept the operating system on to it.
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This is a complex procedure. I will post a video on how to do this, but I recommend buying a Pre-Partitioned Drive if you are unsure, or are in a hurry. If it isn't pre-partitioned, IT WILL NOT WORK.
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Now you have got your pre-partitioned hard drive back in, whether upgrading to a 1TB, 2TB drive or just replacing, you need to get the latest OSU1 offline update file onto it, in order to be able to use it.
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To do this, follow the OSU1 Offline Software Update File video and instructions.