The latest preview update for the Xbox 360 has gone live and includes the previously mentioned support for external storage via USB. Seeing as I’ve been struggling to make room for the monthly Games with Gold titles, the arrival of this feature could not have come at a better time.

After an early attempt to get an old 500GB USB2 powered drive working with the Xbox One (and failing), I tried it again on the 360 and to my surprise it was recognised, formatted and ready to go in moments.

The interface is pretty straightforward and allows you to specify directories (Games, Videos, etc) or individual files before starting the transfer process. By default it selected the entire contents on my 360’s internal HDD so you may want to change it to only move a few files to begin with.

Anyone familiar with using the old 360 hard drive transfer kit knows that it takes time to move your files across. A LOT of time. Same thing applies here so once you begin be prepared to walk away from the console otherwise you’ll be watching a progress bar for an hour or two.

After the process completed I gave one of the games a shot and everything seems fine. You’re likely to get better performance from a higher spec drive but being able to attach a cheap off the shelf HDD to the console makes for an easy upgrade.

I’m impressed with how well this works already and for gamers still enjoying their 360s it is bound to encourage a greater uptake in digital purchases which might extend the console’s lifespan further.