so my stock hdd is fucked so my roomates got an extra maxtor 80gig and i was planning on ordering a mod chip

whats the easiest best way to reformat his hard drive.

and i asked the question about xbox live and i was told as long as you use original disks and turn the chip off i wouldnt have a problem but then i was thinking about the xbox dashboard i dont understand how this will work since xbox live is powered and organized through the dashboard.

im also seeking advice on whats the best modchip
i was looking at the xenium ice..........any sugestions

unless you already have your HD key, then you will need a modchip. and yes, you can install that 80 gigger but if you want to go on live, it needs to be lockable. check here to see if it is.

the MS dash can work simultaneously with other dashes since the MS bios looks for xboxdash.xbe (the MS dash) and hacked bioses have a boot sequence and looks for other filenames:
(X2 boot sequence)
1. avalaunch.xbe
2. evoxdash.xbe
3. mxmdash.xbe
4. nexgen.xbe
5. xboxdash.xbe (if everything else fails)

(evox boot sequence)
1. evoxdash.xbe
2. xboxdash.xbe

this is why the MS dash boots when the chip is off and the homebrew dashes boot when the chip is on.

Some x2 bioses are floating around that boot:
d:\default.xbe
c:\evoxdash.xbe
e:\evoxdash.xbe
c:\default.xbe
xbtool can tell yuo if you load up the bios you plan to flash with.

Edit: Unless its x2 4983 which is encrypted..

Your best bet would be either slayers or firefuckers auto installer. These will both reformat the new hdd as well as have all the required files that you lost when your hdd died. They are very easy to use, once you get them to load. Which can be a pain in the ass. Use good media(you can find what brand to use in the pinned topics in the backup forum), Burn it slow and make sure you burn it as an xiso.

You will however need a modchip that supports the hdd upgrade. I am pretty sure that most of the new ones do.

Why do ppl keep suggesting inferior utility disks in threads that atomiX is part of. His is up to date, where as slayers is a little bit 2003ish.. Firefuckers, thats a different story.. Oh god the number of ppl I've had to help undo what Firefuckers did to their xboxes. . Get AtomiX' Utility Disc.. there are torrents floating around for it..