Open your eyes, sit and listen.

quote ButchSmudge31

I'm getting Live in a few weeks, all I need is a hardrive.
But, I haven't a flying clue how to connect to it, buy membership, renew membership, what ports to put the Ethernet cable into. Etc. Please explain.

Okay, well first of all, hooking up the Xbox to the internet is quite simple. Put one end of an Ethernet cord (there's a gray one that comes with the 360) into the back of the Xbox 360.



The other end must either go into the back of a modem or a router. Without a router though, you can only have one device (computer, Xbox, etc) connected to the internet at a time (unless you have like separate phone lines or something).

If your using a router, you must put the other end of the cord into one of the ports on the back.



If your just using a modem, you can just take out the current Ethernet cord connecting to something (most likely a computer) and replace it with one connecting to your Xbox.

Alternatively, if you have a wireless router, you can buy a wireless network adapter for your Xbox 360. The one that Microsoft makes is $100, but there are others you can buy.

Now for buying a membership. This is also pretty simple. Once your connected to Xbox Live, go to the dashboard (you can do this by putting no disk in the tray, or by clicking the guide button and pressing 'Y'). Click on one of the Xbox Live banners, and then click "Join Xbox Live". From here, you can just follow the on screen instructions.

You can buy membership in a couple different ways. One way is to use your credit/debit card to buy a subscription. The longer subscription you buy, the cheaper the rate is. Another way is to buy an Xbox Live card from a game store (Gamestop, EB Games, etc). It is about $50 for a yearlong subscription, which is only like 17 cents a day.

As for the hard drive thing, I know you need at least a memory card, not sure about a hard drive though. You need something that can store your account information.

Open your eyes, sit and listen.

quote

Oh, yeah, how does it connect to Xbox Live? Because there is a network settings menu on the dashboard.

The network settings menu is mostly just to test your connection. You can also set things such as your IP address, but all that is created automatically anyways. You can also test your "Media Connection". If you use a router, or if you connect your Xbox through a computer, you can connect to your computer and stream stuff off of it (mostly just for music). There's different programs you can use to do it, one being Windows Media Player.

Open your eyes, sit and listen.