Xbox 360 - Useful Maintenance Tips

By Larry Moon

Of course, as you more than likely already know, the Xbox 360 is an expensive bit of kit, and that's even before you take all the games and accessories into account. Having said that; the vast majority of people seem to forget all about the cost of their Xbox, particularly once they start becoming involved with their favorite games. At least this is the case until such time that their Xbox packs up. Of course, providing your system is still under warranty, most breakdowns can be resolved, although the time it takes for repairs to be carried out may well cost you a considerable amount of quality gaming time. As you can imagine this problem becomes even worse when you're forced to hand over money for the repairs, or even for a new system.

There is one major difference between a regular gaming desktop and the Xbox 360, in that regular gaming desktops have superior cooling systems. Irrespective of what you may have heard, excessive heat is a major contributor to breakdowns with the Xbox 360. Furthermore, if you spend several hours gaming, you'll be surprised at just how quickly excessive heat is generated. The good news is you can prolong the life of your beloved Xbox 360, simply by following the maintenance tips provided in this article.

First and foremost, you should make it a habit to regulate your gaming hours. If you are fond of playing Xbox Live Arcade games you probably don't need to worry about heating issues because those games do not take full advantage of the Xbox 360's power. But those intense 3-D high definition games can really heat up your system so it is important to take breaks. Even a 30 minute break is okay so you can still enjoy lots of gaming hours per day.

If taking breaks is too difficult for you, at least play in a cooler environment so your Xbox 360 doesn't heat up as much. Full air-conditioning is the way to go, but if you can't install one, at least keep an electric fan point towards your system to ensure that the sensitive components don't get much heat exposure.

While your system may not often be given a chance to rest, when it is switched off you still need to make sure that it won't be exposed to direct sunlight or an excessive amount of dust. If you fail to take these precautions then there's every probability that your next gaming session will be interrupted by read ring errors. Also, if the temperature of a room is high enough to affect the temperature of the system then it is pointless switching on the system in the first place.

Because of the overeating issues surrounding the Xbox 360, numerous accessories claiming to fix the problem of overheating are now available on the market. However, because the vast majority of these accessories get their power directly from the Xbox 360, they can very often result in further red ring errors. As such, unless an accessory draws its power from an independent supply, or if it is licensed by Microsoft, it should not be used.

While many people are wary of taking a gaming system with them when they travel, it can be done providing you exercise a certain amount of caution. For example, unless you use a proper Xbox 360 carry case, your console should not be carried in an upright position so as to avoid any damaging collisions. If you do use a proper case then of course you should always ensure that the case is adequately secured before you head out.

While the latest Xbox 360 gaming consoles are far less likely to experience red ring errors thanks to the use of upgraded motherboards, it's still imperative that gamers take adequate care of their consoles if they want their gaming sessions to be free of red ring errors. - 18424

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