How to tell in my internal HDD is going bad?

The cat was a bad argument. Granted. I would much rather have a large internal hdd, was what I meant. I dont know how to explain how it would be better with an internal hdd. It would render an external drive "unnescessary".

It depends on the model. Some consoles are sold as a 4GB model, which is basically only some internal flash memory and does not count as a hard drive, whereas if the model you have is a 250GB (or anything other than 4GB; 120GB, 320GB or 500GB could also
be the case) then it's one with an additional, removable hard drive. If you're not sure, by following the steps I linked above you'll find out (there either is or won't be a hard drive where the guide says there is one).

I don't think the OP's console actually has a 'hard drive'. As the fast sentence states
"We have a 360 Slim with a memory stick."

I'm pretty certain this this is an Xbox 360 4GB Slim, in which case it won't have 'hard drive' to remove. The 'Memory unit' is non user replaceable. Basically, looking at all the evidence, the console has some kind of of general hardware failure. The
4GB Memory Unit in the 4GB slim can fail just like any Flash storage and it can not be removed because it's attached to the console motherboard.

If it was just the on-board storage that had failed, you could still use the console if you attached a hard drive. However, with the WiFi failing, the DVD drive not recognising discs and the inability to connect controllers properly suggests it has indeed
failed.

Other than set up a repair, no there is nothing else you can do. Sorry.

Hello Littleissa,

At this link here you can read about different troubleshooting steps pertaining to various hard drive-related issues:
support.xbox.com/.../hard-drive

To take the hard drive out and put it back in you do not need to open up the console per sé, it's more opening a cover. There's a guide here, covering all the Xbox 360 models:

support.xbox.com/.../add-remove-hard-drive

You may also want to run through the steps for troubleshooting a bad update, which you can find here:

support.xbox.com/.../system-update-help

Let us know how you get on and if you have any questions.

OP --I'll save you some time. USB Thumb drives, use something known as flash memory. To save you time, they basically have a finite amount of read/writes before they stop working. For this reason, it's very, very cheap. For something like storing documents
on, it's not a problem. However, since the Xbox reads and writes to the thumb drive a heck of a lot more than a document would, these drives fail quickly. I wouldn't recommend using a thumb drive on an Xbox for any amount of time. The performance on them is
terrible, and they fail fairly quickly. For these reasons I suggest buying an external Hard Drive. You can buy 500 GB drives for fairly cheap, and they're going to last you a lot longer than a USB stick (provided you don't knock them around, mechanical drives
are fragile creatures). As for brands, I would stay away from Seagate and PNY under all costs. You get what you pay for, and these drives are borderline trash. That, and they have compatibility issues with Xbox 360s. Western Digital drives are very resilient
and are available for decent prices. I recommend buying a Western Digital Passport drive. They're small, portable, and are pretty darn great!

If your USB stick is working half the time, or at all, I would recommend that you stop use immediately to save your data from any potential loss that could happen if you continue using the drive.

If that's too long and you don't feel like reading that fat blob of text, don't use USB sticks. Buy yourself a Western Digital External. If you're tight on space you can buy a Western Digital Passport drive. Also, Seagate and PNY suck so avoid those.

Good luck!