Stemming up from a few Xbox tech sources is a claim from the Xboxhacker (XBH) Forums stating that the Xbox 360's DVD key and game region code can be altered to break down the region locks for some games. And following that particular tip by XBH member Seventhson, a flurry of third-party experimentations are beginning to back the claim in its entirety.

"I successfully changed the DVD key and region code of a 360. So it's all confirmed. ... All I did towards this was to reverse the plaintext KV signature to figure out how to modify and resign the KV contents," said Seventhson in his post, assuring that he isn't here to claim fame for this find.

He has stated that this triumph was built upon works of other Xbox hackers and wishes to thank four others - Takires, TheSpecialist, Robinsod, tmbinc - for their region code tests and SHA1/RC5 documentation. But it appears that the patch only works for some versions of Xbox 360s, which include all those with exploitable Hypervisors (kernels 4532 and 4548).

Meanwhile, one other Xboxhacker contributor going by the name of Arakon has successfully loaded a region-locked game, stating, "My USA 360 just booted a PAL (non-region-free) game. The region patching works."

TheSpecialist's HDDHackr seems to be a staple of Xbox 360 fans who want to get their extra hard drive space on the cheap. Well, hard drive hackers will probably be pleased to know the TheSpecialist has released v0.91 of HDDHackr, which adds Western Digital BEVS-RST drive support to the application.

For those who haven't heard of this application, HDDHackr basically allows you to take specific hard drive types and turn them into impromptu spare hard drives for your Xbox 360. In this case, the new version of HDDHackr means hacking is now available for all Western Digital BEVS models currently out on the market.

As with hacking apps of this type, you're going to have to check the readme to understand more of what to do and what you'll need to get the entire thing to work. Be very careful with how you do this, as you could also damage the hard drive you just bought... the app may be tested, but there are no guarantees after all.

Download: HDDHackr v0.91

In light of the release of the official Microsoft 120GB hard drive for the Xbox 360, TheSpecialist has released an update for HDDHackr. With this solution, you should be able to create your own 120GB Xbox 360 HDD using a Western Digital Scorpio BEVS-LAT drive. Here's TheSpecialist's message that was sent to Xbox-Scene News regarding the HDDHackr update:

Attached is the latest version of the hddhackr. It works with the new 120 GB signature. However, this current version can not dump the hddss.bin file automatically from that drive, you'll have to manually dump sectors 16-22 with a tool like winhex and save them as 'hddss.bin'. After that, continue as normal with the hddhackr and everything will be fine.

Also, I'd like to stress that there are 2 versions of the WD BEVS drive out there: the 'RST' and the 'LAT' version. This tool currently ONLY supports the 'LAT' version ! You can find on the sticker of the HDD which version it is. I'll hope to be able to support the RST version of the drive in a future version of this tool.

What's nice about this is that if for some reason you want to use your HDD for your PC again after running it through this tool, there's an "undo" button for your use. It should restore the HDD. Still, be cautious when you use this on your units.

The download below includes the application itself and the readme file (PLEASE READ THE README, they're called that for a reason). However, it does not include "hddss.bin" for obvious reasons.

Download: TheSpecialist's HDDHackr v0.90

While it is possible to run your Xbox 360's files off to a new HDD in case you need the extra space, or in the event of a re-formatting, there's still the problem of finding an affordable HDD certified by Microsoft. Now, in case you already have a specific HDD in mind, but nary a thumbs up from the big "M," TheSpecialist comes in with his HDDHackr v0.82B tool.

This handy MS-DOS based application allows users to run a 2.5-inch laptop Western Digital BEVS Hard Drive off the 360 as if it were its internal HDD - just remember that this program will only work with the Scorpia Beva series from Western Digital.

Then again, considering that a Western Digital 40GB HDD sells goes for a reasonable US $ 50, we thought the cash-strapped 360 fans here may want to give it a try. As for the app's latest changelog:

• Added option to flash the Western Digital back to its original state
• Much easier to use, no more manual copying of sectors
• Improved compatibility, should now really work with all BEVS models
• Bug fixed, that caused flashing of incorrect serial number in some rare cases

Just make sure to view the bundle's README for the step-by-step installation guide, as well as TheSpecialist's comprehensive FAQ. And as we're already on the topic of porting "alien" HDDs to your 360, Talismoon has an adaptor that should mix just fine with this program - make sure to check it out as well.

Download: [HDDHackr v0.82B]