• The Xbox 360 console."My 360 Elite" is Copyrighted by Flickr user: MNgilen (Michel Ngilen) under the Creative Commons Attribution license.
  
  

History

• Economics played a hand in XBox 360's hardware troubles. In a rush to beat Sony's PS3 to the market, Microsoft reportedly skimped on hardware testing, according to an interview between 8Bit Joystick and an anonymous Microsoft employee. The gamble may have paid off because Microsoft got a huge jump on sales by beating Sony's latest addition to gaming consoles by one year, so far topping 30 million units, according to Microsoft.
  
  

Types

• There are numerous types of problems related to the XBox 360's hardware deficiencies. As stated earlier, the "Red Ring of Death" issue is the most common type of hardware failure. The other most frequent problem is the "E74" error message. The restarting error is less common issue, but has still affected many consumers. The problem is easy to diagnose. Does the console simply restart on its own? The cause of the problem can be related to several factors.
  
  

Warranty

• The XBox 360 has an outstanding factory warranty. Because the company realized how high the console's failure rate was, they extended the factory warranty to three years from time of purchase for the "Red Ring of Death" and "E74" issues. Unfortunately, the three-year warranty does not apply to the restarting issue. For all other problems, including the restart issue, Microsoft's base one-year warranty applies. If the problem occurs within that time span, Microsoft will repair the console free of charge.
  
  

Fixes

• Microsoft.com lists a set of steps to potentially fix the restarting issue. Microsoft suggests checking to see if the power button is being pressed, if the guide button on a controller is accidentally being pressed or if the hard drive is incorrectly installed. If none of those steps alleviate the problem, then Microsoft suggests calling their customer service hot line or set up online repairs through Microsoft's Web site.
  
  

Prevention/Solution

• Many people believe many of the XBox 360's problems revolve around overheating and Microsoft suggests keeping the console cool. There are a few easy steps to keep the console cool. Be sure to keep the device in a well-ventilated area. Is your console tucked away inside an entertainment center? That's probably not the best place for it to stay cool. Make sure it's not near any obvious hot spots such as heaters. Another, precaution is not keep the console on for extremely long stretches of time. The longer the console remains on the longer it has to heat up.