Xbox One S Storage Upgrade and Some Preventative Maintenance
I bought this Xbox One S in 2017, mostly using it to play the Xbox exclusives at the time like Halo Master Chief Collection, Gears of War, and Forza games. I did not own an Xbox console until the Xbox One era, so I was missing out on its exclusive games. I started with the older launch model, and in 2017 traded it in for the One S model.
In 2024 it was starting to show its age, specifically with its 1tb hard drive. After doing some research it is apparently very easy to swap its internal hard drive for a large one. You can replace the drive, then copy the most recent update onto a USB stick and plug it in. On bootup, the Xbox will reinstall all the needed files to the new drive during the update. I picked up a Crucial 2tb solid state drive and did the swap.
The console outer shell is kept closed with some plastic tabs, but other than that the whole console is held together with screws, and is easily labeled with each component having a number so you can easily follow along how to disassemble it correctly. I was surprised how easy it was to disassemble compared to some other systems I have worked on. It also uses mostly standard style computer component for the disk drive, heatsinks, and hard drive. It was very straight forward to work on.
While the system was open, I also took the opportunity to replace the thermal paste with Honeywell PTM 7950. PTM 7950 is a phase change material unlike thermal paste so at room temperature it is a solid and as the system warms it becomes soft. It is also made of a single connected sheet instead of being a true paste like thermal paste or liquid metal, so it will not “pump out” over time, and has a much longer service life than traditional thermal paste. In the One S the heat is not so much an issue, mostly what I am after here is the 15+ year service life to prevent the need to open the system every few years and replace the paste.
After replacing the hard drive with a solid-state drive, they system does feel much snappier, especially the home menu, but installing games and running games off the internal drive all feel much faster. With storage becoming cheaper and games getting bigger this little upgrade was totally worth it.
I also found the Master Chief hidden inside the system a fun little touch.
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