Xbox 360 Freeze, Red Lights and Lock Up Problems - A Beginners Guide

According to many reputable sources, around one third of all Xbox 360 consoles will experience the dreading "red ring of death" problem. This fault, often characterized by the Xbox 360 freeze-up error, can be distressing for gamers who don't know what causes the issue, yet alone how to fix it. Today you are going to learn what causes the freezing problem on your Xbox 360, as well as what can be done to fix it as quickly and as easily as possible.

The cause of Xbox 360 freeze-ups is actually overheating. The excess heat places undue stress upon the components, and can cause them to malfunction. This can eventually cause permanent damage- luckily your Xbox 360 has the ability to go into a stand-by mode where it appears to being crashing/freezing, in order to prevent permanent damage.

What you may not also be aware of is the fact that this heat can affect different components within your Xbox 360 system. Some people will get the red lights error, indicating a problem with the graphics processor, whilst others may get things such as faulty DVD drives or hard drives. However, overheating is still the root cause of all problems.

So how can you fix your Xbox 360 freeze-ups?

Rather than getting the problem fixed by another third party, which can be costly and take a long time, you are best to fix your Xbox 360 yourself. In order to do this you will need an Xbox 360 repair guide, which will show you the exact steps you need to follow.

However, it is important to understand that there are a lot of rubbishy repair guides on the market. That's why you need to look for one that has step-by-step videos, as well as a money back guarantee, free customer support and customer testimonials. Also, you shouldn't pay anything more than $30, as you simply don't need to spend over that amount to get the information you need.

By James Philipson

Making Backups Of XBox 360 Games

If you have a Microsoft XBox 360 chances are you're a happy camper. Sleeker and more powerful than the original XBox, the 360 is a competent gaming console that can soak up your spare time and then some with scores of mostly very good (and some excellent) games. People may forever argue the relative merits of the XBox 360 versus the Sony PlayStation 3 or the Nintendo Wii, but it's really a moot point. If you have a 360 you've invested in XBox 360 games, watch XBox 360 movies, and most likely have a subscription to XBox Live. And you certainly enjoy the XBox 360 games download capabilities made possible through speedy broadband connections.

Unfortunately, there's a bit of a discrepancy between the wonderful XBox hardware, the blindingly fast Internet connections, and then fact that the XBox is a very closed system. There are some good reasons for that. Unlike regular PCs, game consoles are totally and completely standardized. You can't add more RAM, change the drive, or upgrade the processor. You also can't mess with the system software other than installing the necessary XBox 360 firmware or system upgrades. That's because console hardware and software must be completely standard in order to optimally and reliably run games. The complete standardization also makes it possible for consoles to remain unchanged for several years. Games get better as developers learn how to squeeze the last bit of power out of a console, but other than that, every single game made for a particular console will always run on that console. No upgrades needed, ever.

The bad part about all this is that even though the XBox 360 is a computer, it's a totally locked computer and you can't even make backups of the very games you own. That's not good. I've had enough hard disks crash on me and enough CDs and DVDs become unreadable that I've become pretty paranoid. In my work I'd never rely on a piece of software that I cannot back up. Yet, that's exactly the situation gamers are in. They can't back up their own games. If a game DVD goes bad - and that can easily happen given how much use they get - you're simply out of luck. No one is going to give you a new DVD. You have to buy your own XBox software all over again. No XBox backup for you. That's not a good situation.

So what's the solution? There really isn't a clean one. Microsoft knows its software and hardware, and they decided to not allow backups of their game DVDs. To keep people from doing backups of their DVDs, the game files are encrypted and the XBox will only run special XBox 360 media. Does that mean those who are determined to protect their investment via backups are simply out of luck? No, there are ways to get into the XBox 360 so you can do backups. In fact, there's a whole community out there dedicated to XBox modifications and the ability to download XBox 360 games, XBox 360 movies, XBox 360 firmware, and Xbox software. It may very well be worth your while to check it out.

By Chris Robertson

XBox 360 Price Drop Means Bargains For Gamers

When the second generation Xbox, the Xbox 360, was released in 2005, it received much recognition and acclaim. The Xbox 360 garnered so much attention at it's release, in fact, that supply could not keep up with demand and many gaming enthusiasts were not able to even get the console until the new year.

Many people could not afford the new Xbox 360 game console anyway because of its hefty price tag. The reason why the console was so expensive to buy was simply because of its many new features and functionality, the likes of which, had never really been seen before.

It has unique features that make it a "must have" for gamers. For example, the Xbox 360 is functionally state of the art, and has a sleek modern design. The console comes in an attractive space-aged appearing external case with a remote control and wireless hand-controllers. This wireless connectivity was unseen in previous gaming consoles. It is still one of the Xbox 360's most prolific features.

Fortunately for buyers of the previous Xbox model, the Xbox 360 has backwards compatibility, which means that a number of the games purchased for the original Xbox will work with the new Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 also comes with built in networking which enables the user to connect to the internet and download games, as well as playing games live online with other Xbox 360 owners. It has a built-in hard drive which can store around 80 Gigabytes of data (or more if a larger hard drive is purchased), which means users can store quite a lot of games and saved game data without having to buy extra memory cards like other game consoles.

The online feature also enables the gamer to download updates to games so that they are always able to play games with the latest features included.

Other features include interchangeable faceplates with various colors and designs, the capability to play streaming digital music from an MP3 player connected to it, and you also can use it as a dvd player.

For parents, there is also one other appealing item available as an add-on for the Xbox 360 which is a set of headphones which plugs directly into the wireless hand-control of the Xbox 360, so that not only are there no more cords running across the floor to trip over, but the kids (or adults) can play Xbox 360 silently using the headphones. Two of the most annoying problems for parents have been taken care of which makes the Xbox 360 a winner on that basis alone.

By

Jay G White