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How to Back Up XBox 360 Games to a PC

Xbox 360 video game discs are easily damaged, just like any normal CD or DVD. A scratch could make the game freeze or worse yet, render the game disc unreadable. This gives you a good reason to be cautious when handling and storing Xbox 360 games. Smart console owners take caution one step further by making backup copies of their games on PC hard drives using special software. Creating an ISO file backup of the game means that a usable copy can be made if the disc ever becomes unreadable.

Things You'll Need

DVD burner
Dual-Layer DVD movie disc (must have more than 7 GB of data)
Unzipping software
WxRipper
Safety pin or similar

Instructions

Installing the Software
- 1
  Download and install an unzipping tool if one is not currently installed (see Resources). Most users will skip this step.
- 2
  Download the WxRipper tool to the desktop (see Resources).
- 3
  Right-click on the downloaded file and select "Extract to Here" from the contextual menu.
- 4
  Install WxRipper by double-clicking on the WxRipper.exe file on the desktop.
- 5
  Launch the program once the installation is complete.
PC Backup Process
- 6
  Insert the dual-layer DVD movie disc into the DVD burner on the computer.
- 7
  Stop the movie from playing if necessary and maximize the WxRipper program window.
- 8
  Select the DVD burner drive from the drop-down "Drive" options and click the "Stop Drive" button to stop the disc from being read.
- 9
  Insert the safety pin or similar metal object into the small hole located near the EJECT button on the face of the DVD burner. This will pop the drive tray out for a "hotswap." Do not press the EJECT button or the process will have to be restarted.
- 10
  "Hotswap" the movie DVD for the Xbox 360 game of your choice by removing the DVD disc and inserting the game disc. This is the term used when a DVD disc is swapped without allowing the DVD drive to read the new disc.
- 11
  Push the DVD tray back in with the game disc loaded, taking care to avoid pressing the EJECT button.
- 12
  Press the "Play" button in the WxRipper program screen.
- 13
  Press the "Find Magic Number" button in WxRipper.
- 14
  Save the project as a layout file by selecting "File," "Save As" and choosing a name and location for the saved file.
- 15
  Right-Click on the saved layout file, select "Open With" and choose "Notepad."
- 16
  Change the "C" that starts the third line of code to a "D." The "D" must be capitalized or the program will not work. Choose "Save" from the "File" menu.
- 17
  Open the layout file in WxRipper. Select "File," and choose "Open" to locate the layout file.
- 18
  Press the "Start Dump" button in WxRipper and choose where to save the ISO backup of the Xbox 360 game on your PC.

Xbox 360