Red Lights on an Xbox 360? Surefire Ways to Fix This

As you may know, Xbox 360 is a great gaming console and is the only console which can compete with the PS3 due to its amazing graphics, gameplay and features. With the integration of networking on the Xbox 360, it make the console appear more than a console. Some people use it for social networking, to check their mails, to browse the internet, to watch movies and so on. The graphics is also amazing and is just a step away from the PS3′s; this is why most popular games come out for both Xbox 360 and PS3. Although the Xbox 360 is an amazing product, there are still a few things that make it look cheap-the things that I am talking about are the famous error codes A.K.A red flashing lights. These error codes have made many people cry because of the intensity of this xbox 360 problem. In this article, I am going to talk about the different flashing lights and possible fixes for them.

First there is the one flashing light. This is a flashing light on the lower right of the power button and is caused by hardware error. This error isn’t usually dangerous because many people managed to fix this. By hardware error I mean, a failure in one of the main hardwares in the Xbox such as the DVD drive, hard drive and so on. It is very rare that the GPU fails. To fix this problem, you just need to do some trial and error, that is, remove the hard drive and turn on the console. If the console works fine, the you need to replace the Hard drive or you need to update your firmware. And, if this doesn’t work, try removing another hardware except the GPU.

The next one is the two flashing lights on the left of the console’s power button. This is the simplest problem as it can be only caused by overheating. Some people try to put their Xbox in the freezer or they warp it in a wet towel, please, do not even think of doing this because this will only damage your console. To fix this problem, turn off the console and wait for at least 3 hours before turning it on again. If it is still hot, wait some more. After it has cooled down, check the fan and make sure it is working fine and is dust-free. You can try blowing some compressed air on the fan to get rid of the dust.

Now, the error we are going to evaluate now is the most dreaded among Xbox 360 owners because sometimes it just doesn’t go away. It is the 3 red lights which is also know as the “red ring of death”. Many people get frustrated over this and some believe that only Microsoft can fix it. It is caused by general hardware failure, that is, any part of the Xbox 360 might be failing and it is almost impossible to know which one exactly. If you encounter this error, turn off the console, unplug everything and wait 2 minutes. Then plug back everything. Now press and hold the sync button and at then press the power button to turn the console on. This should get rid of it, if not, then you just stumbled upon a very bad problem and it will require expertise to get fixed.

Now let’s take a look at the four flashing lights. This is usually caused by the AV cable. Just unplug and replug and the problem should go away.

Just because the Xbox 360 has some problems doesn’t mean that it is a bad product. These errors occur very rarely, so, you should be able to enjoy your console enough before you start to notice that the console is doing some numbers. Repairing Xbox 360 is quite tough at first but after some time you will get to understand how the console works and you will be able to fix all the problems by yourself.

Joel Andrade is an expert in video games and has won many video game awards, he runs a website about Xbox 360 where he shows how to fix Xbox 360 red lights. To take advantage of that, visit his website on http://www.repairingxbox360.com/