"When the Xbox 360 video console gaming system was released in 2005, it met with instant success and rapidly acquired the status of being one of the most popular video console games of the decade. However, this euphoria proved to be short-lived as soon after its release the users began to complain of the inexplicable appearance of the 3 red lights on the console which were followed by a complete crash. Due to their ability to cause a complete crash of the system, these3 red light were titled as the red rings of death since their presence heralded the total closure of the system which was akin to death.

Since many owners of the Xbox 360 video console have faced the problems of the red lights at some point or the other it is better to be aware of the causes which are responsible for the appearance of these lights. If the user perceives a single red light flashing on the screen then it reflects a hard drive error and if there are two red lights then it indicates overheating of the system. Likewise, the 3 red lights are representative of problems like overheating, power supply problem, hard drive error or AV cable error. There are times when there may be four red lights blinking on the screen and this happens when the gaming console is unable to detect the AV cables.

Whenever the 3 red lights start flashing on the screen it is time for the owner to realize that there is an error with the working of the system which requires immediate attention. Since the 3 red lights are caused due to overheating or a combination of other factors their presence should be followed by a complete shut down of the system by the user before deciding the next course of action. In such a situation the first recommendation to the user is to pack the console and send it across to the company for repairs. There are some home remedies as well which are known to solve this problem of 3 red lights and one of the most commonly followed remedies involves shutting down and unplugging the system completely and switching it on after a long gap of many hours. Many people use the towel method to counter the problem of overheating although this is not recommended since it only serves to damage the console even more in the long run.

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