How-to create backup copies of your Xbox 360 games

Now that you've flashed your Xbox 360's firmware to enable the playing of backup discs, you probably want to start actually backing up those expensive games you bought in case they get scratched or perhaps even melted by your toasty 360. And luckily for you, CleverMod has posted just the step-by-step instructions you need for ripping your games and then burning the images onto dual-layer DVDs -- but keep in mind, you're voiding about a million warranties with all of this flashing and ripping and such. Basically, CleverMod's method involves disassembling a DVD drive so that you can switch discs without hitting the eject button, and then installing a program called WxRipper that finds a so-called "magic number" from any regular 8+GB dual-layer DVD. The program then uses that data to unlock a substituted 360 disc and dump a RAW copy onto your hard drive, which can be burned onto a blank disc and presumably played using the Commodore4Eva hack on Toshiba-Samsung drive-sporting 360s. And just to be super clear, if you don't own a copy of the game you're ripping, then you're not allowed to do this (i.e. Blockbuster, GameFly games are off-limits).

[Via digg]

[david galbraith @ May 21st 2006 4:38PM]

sweet tbh

[david galbraith @ May 21st 2006 4:41PM]

haha petes ragin

[Jack @ May 21st 2006 4:42PM]

"We do not support piracy in any way with this tutorial!"
Yea right then dont post it,real bold move engadget everyone knows this is going to be used for piracy why post it ?

[Pete @ May 21st 2006 4:43PM]

damn beat me to it! :(

[paris @ May 21st 2006 4:44PM]

What are you doing!!!!!!! Bill Gates is reading this site!

[Mark archuleta @ Nov 23rd 2006 11:47AM]

For those who are questioning whether this advice is being used for legitimate reasons or not get lost either use the advice or get the fuck out of here you stupid bastards your just wasting your time and everybodys elses.

[187 John Doe @ May 21st 2006 4:45PM]

Are people actually going to do this for personal use? Seems a bit risky to me. I guess if your a bootlegger on the streets this could bring money fast and you don't need to tell them that you need to "hack" the 360. Oh God.

[greg @ May 21st 2006 4:51PM]

lol 360 may actually be worth it now. i have an xbox and the homebrew is excellent, xbmc is the only reason it ever gets powered up. cracked 360 and a Wii instead of a PS3? i think so... now i may also have a reason to put windws on my intel mac

[magic @ May 21st 2006 4:54PM]

Casio's compact 10 megapixel EXILIM EX-Z1000 could be used for kiddy porn but you people didn?t have a hissy fit when it was posted. Stop complaining about access to information

[Tommy Mang @ May 21st 2006 4:55PM]

This article does not belong here on Engadget. Shame on you guys!

[Matt @ May 21st 2006 4:55PM]

I have a better idea. Get a job and buy your games.

[RuBot @ May 21st 2006 5:06PM]

I support those who're trying to hack the 360 for homebrewing.

No, I'm NOT going to 'backup' my friend's games to play on mine. I understand that game developers too deserve to earn.

What I really want is something like XBMC for 360. I want to play video files on my PC on the TV screen. MS wants me to have MCE to play that?? And after I have paid over 400 for the console? Even if I did have MCE, they won't allow playing of one of the most popular format Divx/Xvid? (I know about the workaround; but it isn't in-built).

What MS should have done is to enable playing of video from regular XP on 360.

I know I'll be jumping on the modchips once they come on & something like XBMC arrives for 360.

Say, guys, how long do you think it might be before we start seeing things like XBMC for 360?

[Larry Ge @ May 21st 2006 5:09PM]

HAHA, you know that halfo of these "backup" copies are just going to end up on ebay anyway. And also; those people who coment just to say "first post", if you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't say it

[Jack @ May 21st 2006 5:14PM]

what retard compares piracy to kiddie porn? Seriously how stupid are you ?

[edisinsane @ Aug 31st 2008 7:26PM]

It's called a metaphor, dumbass

[RazorElite @ May 21st 2006 5:15PM]

All that's too risky just to play backups, especially for my $400 system. Not to mention, can't play backups on Live. And no Live is sooo yesterday. I had my Xbox modded, 'cause it could do a lot more than an unmodded one, but I think I'll stick with re-purchasing damaged discs for now.

[six2one @ May 21st 2006 5:17PM]

what is wrong with the spread of information? if you dont want to pirate games then dont. engadget is just deploying already known information. they arent making you pirate games. so just read it for what it is and not cry about it.

[madc @ May 21st 2006 5:21PM]

And just to be super clear, you can exchange your broken/scratched discs back to the store if its damaged. I am dissappointed in engadget.

[Max2 @ May 21st 2006 5:22PM]

#14

It's going to have a dual firmware switch so you can play live ok and switch it for backups

[gamerG @ May 21st 2006 5:27PM]

seems like a lot of bother, why not just buy the game?

[Joey @ May 21st 2006 5:32PM]

Interesting comments. I can't help but think "are the people here who think it's bad to put this up"......
- Thinking it's bad because they might have their wrists slapped by the man.
- Worry that engadget is helping the (actual) criminals in posting this "secret" information.
- Thinking it's immoral to make a backup of something you paid, lets face it, LOADS of money for.
Or..
- all of the above
- they have no idea themselves.
Man, there is some serious confusion over these subjects. I think in a few years we are going to hit meltdown and everyone is going to stop doing anything for fear of.... I DON'T KNOW!..... AHHHHHHHH!!!

[BklynKid @ May 21st 2006 5:35PM]

Anyone who cares, here's what MS has come up with so far to prevent the DVD firmware hack. Pretty funny :)

http://www.xbox-scene.com/xbox1data/sep/EEulkuFkykSyphsMUv.php

[quahogian @ May 21st 2006 5:37PM]

didn't the original review say that "you can not boot from dvd-r" so u'll have to have the original anyway. It'll be useless to sell it or do anything with back up copy if u can't boot it, unless u have the original. So kinda defeat all the piracy stuff, doesn't it?

[six2one @ May 21st 2006 6:00PM]

#15..... only if you buy them from a store that sells the insurance...the you still have to buy the insurance..and its usually only 12 months

[saluki @ May 21st 2006 6:23PM]

Wow, this is really a shining moment for all of Engadget's corporate sponsors.

Perhaps tomorrow we will learn how to steal cable?

[rafael @ May 21st 2006 6:50PM]

damn engadget... i thought you were better than that... if people need to find this stuff its easily available elsewhere (this is what google is good for). you know billy g reads this site. no more interviews for you...

[liquefied @ May 21st 2006 6:56PM]

While it's certainly up for discussion as to whether Engadget should be going into such detail about the actual process of modding the 360, I believe it's important for news of this mod to be posted. Console modding affects those who do it and those who don't so we should all know it's happening.

[Zorque @ May 21st 2006 6:57PM]

People actually do back up copies of their games. I make a disk image of every PC game I own, so that I can keep the disk in pristine condition. It's sad that these days, everyone is guilty until proven innocent.

[Xendris @ May 21st 2006 7:02PM]

Devil's advocation: I have friends who have fruitfully produced cute, albeit destructive little brats who have the amazing ability to completely annihilate anything of value within a few seconds of laying hands on it. For them, modchips represent a very useful, very legal way of backing up irreplaceable $50-60 games.

For the other 99% of the population, yes, this will only be used for piracy.

[Special_K @ May 21st 2006 7:11PM]

Is it /really/ worth it? The trouble you go through to get the "backups" is so arduous that you might as well get a second job and earn the money to buy the games legitimately.

[keith coutinho @ May 21st 2006 7:20PM]

hmm is posting about how to make bombs etc legal? if that kind of stuff is classed "freedom of information" it wouldn't be so good.

Engadget should be more responsibe....but it's what we want to know!

i would rather they posted it!!! :) let the copying begin........

[billy @ May 21st 2006 7:27PM]

engadget did nothing wrong by making this post. if your not going to copy games illegally then dont!!! so what they posted this article! stop worrying about what other people may or may not do and just worry about yourselves! "shame on engadget" have an open mind. cant you read something and not feel all "guilty" just by reading it? so much to the fact your trying to police the fact that other people may read it or even TRY it?

[william hilsum @ May 21st 2006 7:29PM]

What I dont understand about these things is, if you are making a 1:1 image of the original disk, and then burn it to a new disk, why do you need to 'flash' the xbox to support it, surly there should be a way to actually stop using backup disks, and using real 1:1 images that the box cant tell if it is a clone or the real thing... what makes the original actually diffrent from a cloned copy?

[RP @ May 21st 2006 7:46PM]

So if i flash my 360, i can play my backups too?

[AndrewNeo @ May 21st 2006 8:01PM]

Actually, just to be super-clear, I believe it's still illegal to make backup copies of games you own.

[JeffNLA @ May 21st 2006 8:02PM]

Xendris - all the game publishers I know will replace damaged or defective media. I have kids and have done this. Same with DVD's. You do have to send them in; it takes a bit of time to get it back.

I would really like a way of having the game image on the xbox 360 hard drive, and some type of copy protection encrypted to my xbox user account proving ownership. Maybe one day....

I am a bit disappointed in engadget for posting this ? maybe 1 out of 100 will use it legitimately.

I have owned chipped PS2?s , I never modded my xbox 1 nor will I mod my xbox 360. Fortunately, I can buy or rent the games I want.

[Jamar @ May 21st 2006 8:10PM]

My, my, what a bunch of haters here. Jusst because you don't like it doesn't mean that Engadget should be blasted for it. If you don't believe the backup excuse, then you have never had small children around your stuff (don't go preach to me about not letting them near my stuff; my little cousin, 6 years old, can climb to great heights if there is so much as a bump on the wall and keeps getting to my movies, destroying some in the process, no matter how high I put them)(His parents also refuse to believe that their little angel could do such a thing to my movies, so don't tell me to complain to them either) Small children are the reason I am thankful for living in China, land of the $1 movie. I couldn't afford to keep replacing my collection like that if movies cost $20 like they do in the US.

[Rik @ May 21st 2006 8:25PM]

Making back-ups of media you own is entirly legal and protected by law in the USA. Unfortunately a little gem called the DMCA came along and made it illegal to break the digital protection which would allow you to make the legal backup...

Just remember - they put these laws in place to protect *your* rights as consumers!

[Don Wilson @ May 21st 2006 9:04PM]

Yes..... melted...scratched......that's what my backups would be for........

[duerra @ May 21st 2006 9:08PM]

#29, yes it is, and #35, no it isn't

[duerra @ May 21st 2006 9:09PM]

Sorry, that would be #33 (AndrewNeo), not #35

[jesus @ May 21st 2006 9:11PM]

most of the electronics industry is built around piracy...think about it...dvd burners...are you REALLY using it to record your "home memories"? bull...your using it to copy dvds! and if your not...you using it to backup data! and most likely your not filling your 4.7gb dvds with word docs and old tax forms from quicken, but your downloaded software and music off of kazaa. seriously..what is the use of them if you dont use them illegally? mp3 players....biggest example..no matter how much they say they arent. tell me how many people fill their 60gb ipods with entirely legal downloaded music? thats $60,000 worth of music. and the example of putting your cds on there doesnt count either. what good are 30 gigs of cds you havent listened to since the 90's? so why do they say bigger is better? cause the more music you download illegally the more you can fit on their players! its almost like the legal music stores is a front! just my opinion....but in the meantime i have 60 xbox 360 games to copy!!! :)

[Joe C. @ May 21st 2006 11:03PM]

Kameo XBOX 360 manual page 29, paragraph 5 of the EULA states the following;

"Unauthorized copying, reverse engineering, transmission, public performance, rental, pay for play, or circumvention of copy protection is strictly prohibited."

This article is a promotion of piracy, "we don't condone piracy." I can see it now "How to turn your I-Pod into an I.A.D!" Oh... but we don't condone killing people. Give me a break, what a complete cop out. This "hack" reporting is about as un-ethical as it gets! People like this are the reason why I have to pay $60 for a video game for the 360.

[James @ Jul 19th 2007 8:39AM]

It's IED you fucking moron.

[M.Davis @ Nov 5th 2007 5:49PM]

Best comment I can make is you have to look at Engadget as you look at the bible (yea, i may get blasted for this one) But no one copmplains about all the evils told in the bible and manage to bring out only the good (the true beleivers) but none the less, to make the best use you TELL all, the good and the bad. People who work on the xbox team do'nt know it all and it takes some 7 year old to figure out that if you flip this and flop that you get this (even if it is illegal) they look at it and go "Oh wow" and that helps make them better at what they make and the cycle goes on. This all falls under the "someone calls you a name you blow it off because it's just a comment and YOU KNOW that you are not whatever they said, or you turn and try to rip their throat out and end up with a bullet in your head cuz you mad over nothing"

Like most posts say, just because you read it don't mean you have to go do it..
If your so "angry" at engadget for posting it, why are you even bothering reading the replies? Move on...

I guarantee that if this was a REALLY EASY HACK, over half of you bitching about it would do it because in the end, EVERYONE wants to save a buck or two..

[Jimbo @ May 21st 2006 11:12PM]

I'm a little surprised by Engadget posting this one... Can the editor give us his justification of how this site came to the decision of publishing this? Also, how do you expect Microsoft (who use this RSS feed on numerous sites of theirs) will react to you publishing this?

What makes this most surprising is to see this after engadget/joystiq got cosy with Microsoft at E3.

[Guillermo @ May 21st 2006 11:38PM]

I do not have a problem with Endgadget talking about it, my problem is with them providing a "direct" link to the "How to" page. That is what I find wrong. Specially if they do not support piracy. Everybody knows 99% of the time, this is going to be used for piracy.

[Guillermo @ May 21st 2006 11:44PM]

Sorry for the typo, "Engadget"

[Zorque @ May 22nd 2006 12:42AM]

You know, this is far from the first time Engadget has posted something like this anyway. Every time someone finds a way to replace your console's BIOS or make backups of the disks, it's posted here. It's news, and they feel the need to report it as such.

[Jason @ May 22nd 2006 2:00AM]

After reading these comments, I'm shocked at how the supposedly "anti-establishment" crowd is so brainwashed. This could be used for piracy, so-the-fuck what?! The main idea here is that modders are making more progress in unlocking the 360. Homebrew is where it's at. I want XBMC, DVD-rippers, console emulators, alternate operating systems, and every wonderful app that the modding scene produced for the original Xbox. Stop bashing Engadget for posting stuff like this; not all of us like being ignorant.