Backing Up Your Own XBox 360 Software Is Not Illegal

There are some good, legitimate reasons why you'd want to be able to burn your own XBox 360 games to DVDs. And I am not talking unlimited XBox 360 games downloads here. What concerns me are backups. The prospect of a $60 game disc going bad or getting lost doesn't make me happy.

I've given the whole software copy protection issue a lot of thought over the years. And I've always come to the same conclusion. I pay for the software and games that I use. Pirating software is wrong because it means those who create the software don't get paid and won' be able to create new titles.

On the other hand, I don't want to be ripped off either. If I pay for software, I absolutely want to be able to make backups. Hey, it's inconvenient enough that XBox 360 games are on DVDs instead of being installed on the hard disk. Something that's being used over and over and over again should not rely on something as easily damaged or lost as a DVD. So being treated like a criminal because I want backups of the software I bought does not sit well with me. Likewise, it's hardly fair that I have to pay the full price for XBox software on DVD even if the game turns out to be a total stinker. It'd make much more sense to be able to download XBox 360 games, try them, and then pay (or even buy a disc) if I like one. So despite all the crying over software piracy, the ones ripped off are usually the gamers.

Unfortunately, it's us (gamers) versus them (Microsoft), and Microsoft decided to encrypt games and set the XBox 360 DVD firmware so that it will not recognize anything but special XBox media and not standard DVDs you can buy. Which means that you can't even do XBox backups. That seems hardly fair given the cost of games and the ever-present chance of a hard disk crash.

Apparently a lot of people feel this way, and some have figured out how to work around the unfair protection schemes. Doing so is not trivial, but you can learn what it takes to make backups of XBox 360 movies and games. You need a number of files and utilities. You need to learn which files go where, and what must be copied. You also need a SATA interface on our PC so you can reflash the DVD drive in your XBox, and an appropriate DVD burner that can write double layer DVD+R discs.

All of this information is available on the web. There are sites that have all the necessary instructions and step-by-step tutorials, and also provide access to vast libraries of downloadable content. Much of this content is totally legit. Bottom line is that it's no crime to backup your own games or download legitimate content, whether Microsoft agrees or not. Anyone willing to learn the steps can do it, and should be allowed to do it.

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Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies. For tips/information, click here: Xbox 360
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