To stay ahead of it’s competitors, Microsoft pushed it’s Xbox 360 product line out the door faster than it should have. The legacy of this is that over 30 percent of these machines have a red ring of death breakdown. This device lacks robustness due to it’s many built in ‘bugs’.

It has a cooling system that’s ineffective with absolutely no extra capacity to speak of. When it does overheat, the heat build up can affect design flaws and eventually shut down your Xbox. Not allowing your Xbox to overheat is imperative if you wish to avoid the ring of death.

This article will present different ways to keep your Xbox cool.

1.) While you may not intentionally block the ventilation openings, there are other ways of effectively doing the same thing. These will involve putting the Xbox on very soft or shaggy surfaces that block local cooling currents such as pillows, beds, soft rugs and sofas.

2.) Make sure that the Xbox is in an area with plenty of ventilation. Therefore, avoid keeping the Xbox in enclosures like cabinets, racks or bookcases. It certainly doesn’t make any sense to exercise great care in keeping the cooling vents open while placing the machine in a confined space where air can’t reach it.

3.) Try placing your Xbox on it’s side which exposes more of it’s surface area to the surrounding air. You may also want to blow air across your Xbox with a small fan.

4.) Avoid areas next to sources of heat such as furnaces, radiators, heater vents, stoves and other heat generating electronics. Also take care not to place it next to a window that gets direct sunlight.

5.) While keeping the Xbox cool is vital, it is also important to make sure that the power adapter or power brick is getting proper ventilation. We all have a natural tendency to place the power adapter on the floor without a second thought. However, if it is placed on soft shaggy carpets, cooling air currents will be blocked.

The tips given above are intended to be prevention measures that should be taken when your Xbox is brand new. However, if you’ve experienced the ring of death for the first time, you still want to give them a try. Hopefully, the heat made your Xbox shut down before doing any lasting damage.