Alright, first thing's first. Download Xbox 360 Device Explorer -> http://digiex.net/downloads/download-center-2-0/xbox-360-content/apps-pc/4046-xbox-360-usb-storage-explorer-xplorer-xtaf-v44-new.html It's a small file, 100% safe. I've used it for years, it's just so that you're able to see and extract the 360 save file.

GETTING THE FILE ONTO A FLASH DRIVE: THE MOVIE

Now let's talk about getting the file onto the flash drive. Get yourself a flash drive and plug it into your 360. I gotta new model so mine's on the front and I forgot where it is on old models but moving on.

If this is the first time you're plugging this flash drive into your 360, a message may pop up saying it has to adjust it to properly hold 360-related saves and such. THIS WILL DELETE ALL THE FILES ON YOUR FLASH DRIVE. So move those to your computer first.

Also, after it's done saying that, it may give you another message saying something like "This device cannot properly hold these saves blah blah" but it calibrated it anyway. THAT'S TOTALLY FINE. I've modded mine and other saves even so, and it has caused no problems at all to my/their games/360s. As long as we can get the file onto the flash drive, we're good.

From the X-Box Dashboard, go to Settings.

Select Storage.

It's gonna show a list of devices, just pick the one that has the save you want to mod.

On the device menu, go to Games and Apps > Skyrim > select a save.

Click on the save and move it to the flash drive, which is also listed.

Unplug the flash drive and bring it over to your PC, plug that the hell in, and it leads us to....

HOW TO EXTRACT THE SAVE FILE AND DISLODGE OTHER FOREIGN OBJECTS

So, flash drive is all set in your computer, so open up that program you downloaded. It shows up as USBXTAFGU_v44 (because that's so much easier to remember,) so just open up the folder that it comes in and run it.

Go to the upper left hand corner, select File -> Open Device Selector -> double click your flash drive with the save on it.

You'll see two things that say Cache Partition and Date Partition on the main USBXTAFGU window. Select "Data Partition" and just keep clicking the little boxes until you get to one containing your Skyrim save (for example the one I used to double check this says autosave1.exs)

You're gonna wanna right click the Skyrim save and hit "Extract" then just put it wherever it's readily available, like your Desktop.

You'd need a separate program for this, called Modio -> http://www.game-tuts.com/community/modio.php Modio is the program that I use to convert saves back and forth. Unfortunately it's not as easy as just getting your 360 save onto your PC then running that. So let's do another step-by-step since I'm good at those. It slipped my mind because this isn't the thing I usually tell people to get for just fiddling with 360 saves but your case is obviously quite different!

• Do the steps I mentioned before up to getting your save onto a flash drive from your 360 and plugging it into your PC, naturally.
  
• Assuming you've downloaded Modio, run it as Administrator.
  
• With Modio open, hit "Open from a Device." It'll take a couple seconds to recognize the devices.
  
• When it does turn something up, select your USB drive. Mine comes up as E00000CFAEE4206, so yours might have some long name like that. So you're gonna click on the flash drive -> Skyrim -> your save (ie: if it's an autosave, it comes up autosave1.exs)
  
• Modio will have your save up in one of its windows now. So you select that window, and hit "File Contents" at the top right.
  
• Right click Savegame.dat -> Extract File -> extract it wherever it's easily retrievable, like your desktop.
  
• Go to the extract Savegame.dat and you're going to re-name the file type to Savegame.ess
  
• With that all done, let's place the save. Open My Documents -> My Games -> Skyrim -> Saves and drag and drop the Savegame.ess file in there.
  
• And from there you just run Skyrim and your save should appear on the main menu when you select Load/Continue. It'll look all static-y with squiggly lines, but that's just something that happens between PC/360 save conversion and it causes no problems.

NOW you're super actually good this time. Just a reminder, the settings you had from your 360 Skyrim don't transfer to PC Skyrim, so if you changed any subtitle/audio/visual/gameplay/difficulty things on your 360 Skyrim from the default settings, you'll have to redo those.

If you buy a suit and dont know how to tie a tie, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T6xBfq77hg

yes.

Xbox to pc:

1.) USB stick to store your saves on.
2.) Copy the save onto your desctop.
3.) Rename the file from .exs to .ess ---> "autosave.exs" should now be "autosave.ess"
4.) Put the save in your Skyrim folder or whereever your saves are.
5.) Buy a suit.

PC to xbox:
1.) copy a save to your desctop.
2.) rename the save from .ess to.exs
3.) use modio or horizon to rehash and resign your save to the desired xbox ID
4.) put the save on a USB stick
5.) copy file from USB stick into your skyrim folder on your xbox.
6.) Try parachut jumping, great fun!

Edit:

youtube video showing how its done:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTg-U8atbR0

If you buy a suit and dont know how to tie a tie, watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T6xBfq77hg

[waits for Galla to get in here, lolz]

Yes, it is possible to essentially transfer your saves from your X360 to a PC. This does not work with the PS3 at all, only the Box.

I can't quite recall the name of the program you have to use, but it's quite simple from what I've heard. I really would like to get a decent PC to do it but from what I've read in the latest GameInformer that the next Xbox will be practically like an Ultra PC with a much bigger GPU and everything.

Finally get rid of the split between PC and Consoles? Maybe we all can just come together and join forces and ideas. Mods anyone? (One can dream...)

You seem to be forgetting that the Xbox 360 was also much like a PC of its day (2005-06). Triple-core 3.2GHz IBM CPU, Radeon GPU, 512MB RAM, DVD drive and laptop-sized HDD (which should never have been optional). Whatever the new Xbox system is, it will be awesome for a short while, then PC users will start complaining again that it's holding games back.

From what I've read/heard about the next consoles they SHOULD be like the best PCs out there running Skyrim. Way better processor, 10x better GPU's, etc. I see in the near future the split between PC and Consoles being eradicated. Everyone will have the same power the PCs do in there current state. And we'll have mods on consoles finally. That is IF Sony and MS agree to it when the time comes. Hell they can even charge some kind've subscription fee for a program that does allow you to mod. Cause I'm pretty positive we aint getting free mods, lol.

So wait.... it really is possible to take Xbox saves, put them on a PC, convert them to a PC save, fix a broken quest with console commands, and then turned it back into an Xbox save? There aren't any side effects, or chances you could glitch something else up and not even know it? And can you debloat a save file and still use it on the Xbox?

This might seem like a really stupid question, but it's not possible to port your game onto your PC AND play it is there? You can only edit right? Surely are a different format or something... I have just bought a gaming laptop and don't use the Xbox anymore is why I'm wondering.

Alright, first thing's first. Download Xbox 360 Device Explorer -> http://digiex.net/downloads/download-center-2-0/xbox-360-content/apps-pc/4046-xbox-360-usb-storage-explorer-xplorer-xtaf-v44-new.html It's a small file, 100% safe. I've used it for years, it's just so that you're able to see and extract the 360 save file.

GETTING THE FILE ONTO A FLASH DRIVE: THE MOVIE

Now let's talk about getting the file onto the flash drive. Get yourself a flash drive and plug it into your 360. I gotta new model so mine's on the front and I forgot where it is on old models but moving on.

If this is the first time you're plugging this flash drive into your 360, a message may pop up saying it has to adjust it to properly hold 360-related saves and such. THIS WILL DELETE ALL THE FILES ON YOUR FLASH DRIVE. So move those to your computer first.

Also, after it's done saying that, it may give you another message saying something like "This device cannot properly hold these saves blah blah" but it calibrated it anyway. THAT'S TOTALLY FINE. I've modded mine and other saves even so, and it has caused no problems at all to my/their games/360s. As long as we can get the file onto the flash drive, we're good.

From the X-Box Dashboard, go to Settings.

Select Storage.

It's gonna show a list of devices, just pick the one that has the save you want to mod.

On the device menu, go to Games and Apps > Skyrim > select a save.

Click on the save and move it to the flash drive, which is also listed.

Unplug the flash drive and bring it over to your PC, plug that the hell in, and it leads us to....

HOW TO EXTRACT THE SAVE FILE AND DISLODGE OTHER FOREIGN OBJECTS

So, flash drive is all set in your computer, so open up that program you downloaded. It shows up as USBXTAFGU_v44 (because that's so much easier to remember,) so just open up the folder that it comes in and run it.

Go to the upper left hand corner, select File -> Open Device Selector -> double click your flash drive with the save on it.

You'll see two things that say Cache Partition and Date Partition on the main USBXTAFGU window. Select "Data Partition" and just keep clicking the little boxes until you get to one containing your Skyrim save (for example the one I used to double check this says autosave1.exs)

You're gonna wanna right click the Skyrim save and hit "Extract" then just put it wherever it's readily available, like your Desktop.

You'd need a separate program for this, called Modio -> http://www.game-tuts.com/community/modio.php Modio is the program that I use to convert saves back and forth. Unfortunately it's not as easy as just getting your 360 save onto your PC then running that. So let's do another step-by-step since I'm good at those. It slipped my mind because this isn't the thing I usually tell people to get for just fiddling with 360 saves but your case is obviously quite different!

• Do the steps I mentioned before up to getting your save onto a flash drive from your 360 and plugging it into your PC, naturally.
  
• Assuming you've downloaded Modio, run it as Administrator.
  
• With Modio open, hit "Open from a Device." It'll take a couple seconds to recognize the devices.
  
• When it does turn something up, select your USB drive. Mine comes up as E00000CFAEE4206, so yours might have some long name like that. So you're gonna click on the flash drive -> Skyrim -> your save (ie: if it's an autosave, it comes up autosave1.exs)
  
• Modio will have your save up in one of its windows now. So you select that window, and hit "File Contents" at the top right.
  
• Right click Savegame.dat -> Extract File -> extract it wherever it's easily retrievable, like your desktop.
  
• Go to the extract Savegame.dat and you're going to re-name the file type to Savegame.ess
  
• With that all done, let's place the save. Open My Documents -> My Games -> Skyrim -> Saves and drag and drop the Savegame.ess file in there.
  
• And from there you just run Skyrim and your save should appear on the main menu when you select Load/Continue. It'll look all static-y with squiggly lines, but that's just something that happens between PC/360 save conversion and it causes no problems.

NOW you're super actually good this time. Just a reminder, the settings you had from your 360 Skyrim don't transfer to PC Skyrim, so if you changed any subtitle/audio/visual/gameplay/difficulty things on your 360 Skyrim from the default settings, you'll have to redo those.

Wow, this is super massively incredibly helpful.

THANK YOU!

I will be testing this out once my new laptop arrives on Tuesday (2 x )

Might take me a bit to get it all set up, but I'm so glad this "complete" thread is here. Thank you to everyone who contributed