Have you ever gone through the dreaded experience of having the “red ring of death” render your Xbox360 useless? If you have you’re probably very frustrated with the situation, seeing as you paid three hundred plus dollars for your console, and now you can’t even use it! Well don’t feel too down, because it CAN be fixed!

More than fixed, it should be completely prevented all together. Here are some things you can do to prevent your Xbox 360 from having to go through such an ordeal:

Try to keep the Xbox in a cool room. Most of the time the red ring of death is caused by overheating, and this can easily be prevented by keeping the console in a well ventilated area. You should also try not to play with your console for very long periods of time. If you play everyday for 6-8 hours a day non-stop, you can expect some problems with your console eventually.

Another reason why you may experience the red light error is because of dust build up on the microchip of the GPU and CPU. This is also caused by poor ventilation. You can’t prevent this from from happening by keeping the console off of dirty surfaces, and keeping it in a well ventilated room. When dust build up occurs there are several ways to clean the chips up and get the system back up and running in no time.

Whatever the cause may be, just remember that it is not impossible to fix, and there is always hope for your console. You should never resort to throwing your console away, and you should always try to fix it yourself before sending ti back to Microsoft, because it will take several months for you to get your console back, plus you will have to pay for the shipping and handling there AND back!

If you want to fix the Xbox yourself you are going to need a comprehensive and easy to understand guide. The perfect Xbox360 repair guide is the 3 Red Lights Fix guide. It is guaranteed to get your Xbox 360 working again within an hour. If it does not satisfy you in any way, you can send it back for a full refund no questions asked, and they offer great customer support.

What Exactly is this “Red Ring of Death”?

It is a ring of 3 lights that flashes on by the power button on your xbox 360 console, it is usually accompanied by a frozen screen and/or some choppy graphics. This error usually renders your Xbox360 unusable, and it is really frustrating when it happens to you.

Why does this happen?
The cause of this is usually a malfunction with the CPU or the GPU of the Xbox360. It is usually caused by overheating. Intense gaming sessions that last for long periods of time may cause this, or it may be caused by a dust build up on the chips.

How in the world do I fix it?

Well just like with everything else, an ounce of prevention is way better than a pound of cure. Avoiding this “red ring of death” is really not too hard, if you just take the steps necessary to take care of your Xbox360. It is really only caused by 2 things, dust and overheating problems.

To prevent overheating you should keep your Xbox 360 console in a cool room with enough ventilation to keep air circulating through the console. Try to keep the console out of the suns rays, because obviously this will only make it hotter. If you don’t have an AC and it is very hot in the room that the console is in, then try not to play for too long. Usually 4-5 hours at time is okay, as long as it is not too hot in the room you are playing in. Whatever you do, DO NOT try to cover the console up with something, this will only make it hotter.

Try to clean the vents on the console with a duster on a regular basis to keep dust from building up inside and damaging the CPU or GPU. If you feel you have let to much dirt and dust build up inside the console, then you can open it up and clean the inside with a slightly damp napkin. Make sure you don’t wet any of the chips and make sure it is 100% dry before you turn it back on.

If you have already gotten the red light error, then have no fear, there is a comprehensive guide that can help you get your Xbox360 back up and running within an hour. It’s called the 3 red light fix repair guide. Also be sure to check out the rest of the free info on this site if you have any other Xbox360 errors.

So you are experiencing problems with your Xbox 360. Well, you certainly are not alone. Here is the top five list of Xbox 360 glitches, probable causes and some possible solutions:

General Hardware Failure E73 – 3 Red lights or the Red Ring of Death. This Xbox 360 problem can have multiple causes. The biggest suspected culprit is a short or bad cold solder joint associated with the RAM, CPU and GPU chips. Another problem that makes this problem worse is the excessive heat build up. So these two problems are really interconnected. The bad solder joints combined with the overheating/cool down stress, weaken and possibly cause the solder connections to break. There are a couple of solutions that are commonly used. The first deals with the “X” clamps that hold down the CPU and GPU chips. The second deals with over heating the console and basically trying to re-solder the broken chip pins. Do not attempt either of these fixes if your Xbox 360 is under warranty. Send it in and let them fix or replace the unit.
AV Cable Error E74 – This problem really couldn’t be any simpler. Basically, here is a problem with the AV cable, so try a different AV cable. If that doesn’t work there could also be a problem with the encoder chip. If the cable was working then there is a 90% chance it’s a scaler chip problem (the “ANA” or “HANA” chip which is connected directly to the AV cable). In rare cases it is the GPU (refer to problem 1).
DVD Drive Error E64 to E66 – Again a very simple problem and fix. The drive is not connected so connect the DVD drive to the boot.
Hard Drive Error E67 to E69 & E79 – This could be a problem with the Hard Drive itself or a problem with the internal connection to the hard drive. Try removing the hard drive and playing the console without it. This problem can also be caused by a corrupt or missing eProm.
Power Supply – This could be the PSU and could also be the GPU/CPU. One way or another the console isn’t getting clean power from the power supply. You may need to get another power brick.

In the end all of these Xbox 360 problems can be easily fixed with a little internet research. There are plenty of guides available which cover these Xbox 360 problems and more. Make sure you do a comparison of any repair guides before making a purchase. Good luck and good gaming.

Sean Strickler is an Xbox 360 gamer who has reviewed multiple Xbox 360 Repair Guides for fixing Xbox 360 Problems. He has even rated the guides to help frustrated gamers fix the Red Ring of Death. To see how the guides are rated visit http://360fixit.com.