Attempting to repair xbox!

[lj]

Hi, I just received an xbox from a friend.  I have never owned one, and no hardly anything about it until i recently have been looking into softmodding and installing a larger hard drive. 
The only problem is that the hdd seems to be very flaky and clicks when i turn it on.   Some time it actually boots. 
I have not backed up the eeprom.  If my hdd comes back up for a brief moment do i have to preform the backup via ftp?  (can someone explain this or post a tutorial)  (I  am familiar with ftp already.)
If I am not able to recover the eeprom off the hdd is there any way to install the new hd without installing a modchip?
Thanks
lj

and if there are any tutorials on this subject please forward.

[Snafupossum]

well is the xbox already modded, or is it still stock? because it has to be modded to enable ftp to it. heres some stuff to read

http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=544.0 << softmodding FAQ

http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=201.0 << installing hd with out mod

http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=16.0 << installing hd with softmod

http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=19.0 <<softmod with the Krayzie UXE installer

http://www.smdepot.net/forum/index.php?topic=674.0 <<video tutorial on how to make new hd

[drfweega]

Wow snafu... that looks like it must have taken a long time to post.

[Snafupossum]

i try