It's a worrying experience, seeing your Xbox 360 shutting off, red lights appearing in the power switch on the front of the console, and your games not working at all. Learn what the causes are of this annoying problem, as well as how you can fix it yourself for the smallest possible investment of time, difficulty and money.
Most of the time, the reason behind your Xbox 360 shutting off will be one of two main things. The most common of these is overheating. As the Xbox 360 is essentially just a powerful gaming computer that has been shrunken down into a smaller case, it produces a large amount of heat when under heavy use (i.e. when gaming) Too much heat builds up too quickly due to a poor heat removal system and few fans and heat sinks. This then causes the 360 to shut off, and display the red lights on the power ring so that you are aware that something rather major has gone wrong.
The other main cause of the red ring problem is that of general hardware failure. Basically, this is where one or more components have simply stopped working properly. Common examples of this include a loose graphics processor, or loose memory chips. Either overheating or hardware failure will result in the same thing- you not being able to use your Xbox 360 until it is fixed.
Whilst it is possible to send your console to Microsoft to have it repaired, the best way to fix the shutting down problem on your Xbox 360 is to repair it yourself. Why? You will save at least $100 if your console has no more warranty left, and you will also save a lot of valuable gaming downtime. If you ship your console to Microsoft for repair, you could be waiting weeks, even months before you get a fully functional console back. Another problem is that you do not get the same Xbox 360 you sent away back, that means that if you happened to have left the hard drive inside, or a disk on the drive, you will not be able to get that back.
An Xbox 360 repair guide is necessary if you wish to fix the red lights yourself. These are collections of videos and written files that outline, step-by-step, how to determine the cause of the problem on your Xbox 360, as well as what you need to do to fix it in a safe, reliable and easy manner. The average price for a repair guide is around $30, and you won't need to spend any more money on top of that for things such as tools - everything you need can be found around the home. Although it is annoying having to pay money to fix your console, which shouldn't even be broken in the first place, it really would be a dumb idea to try and repair the problem yourself. You will risk injury to yourself and damage to your property without a repair guide.
Click here to learn more about an easy step-by-step Xbox 360 repair guide at Xbox 360 Central that will allow you to repair your Xbox 360 in under two hours in the comfort of your own home. Read free reviews on the top repair products and learn how to fix Xbox 360 shutting of and red lights problems.
James Philipson has been involved in the electronics industry for over 10 years and has repaired more than 30 Xbox 360 consoles since the platform's release over two years ago. Please visit one of the links above and you will be able to download a free copy of his "What Causes The 3 Red Lights Error" report.
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