The Towel Trick - The Absolute Worst Thing You Can Do to Your Xbox 360

Have you recently experienced the red ring of death on your Xbox 360? If so, then you may have heard of or read about the towel trick or towel fix. As frustrating as the ring of death is, it's not the end of the world. Don't allow your frustration to compromise your better judgement and cause you to try it.

While it is true that there are plenty of YouTube videos out there about this technique, you need to remember that most of these were put together by kids. They post whatever they like onto YouTube without worrying much about how well their solutions work in the long term. The good news is that there are legitimate ways that you can use to deal with the red ring of death such as not allowing your console to overheat as well as making sure that it is getting adequate power.

The truth of the matter is that some people end up with a severely damaged Xbox while others only get a temporary fix from it. If you are getting a temporary fix, continued reapplication of the towel trick will slowly cause further damage to the mother board. When the cumulative damage becomes too severe, the towel fix will cease to work altogether.

The trouble with this technique is that the overheating problem doesn't get solved permanently. The method makes your machine even more prone to overheating until it finally doesn't work at all. The reason for this is that micro electronics are damaged by exposure to heat. This is the reason why cooling fans are used in the first place. If heat is used to fix a problem that is also caused by heat, then this should be a tip off that something is wrong with the technique.

The towel fix is the wrong thing to do, period. A lot of people who have used it have had no success at all. Don't destroy your Xbox. Instead, send it back to Microsoft if you still have your warranty. Otherwise, fix it yourself or have it repaired by a professional.

If you choose to fix it yourself, you must get a good repair guide. Remember that you'll be opening your console. This exposes you to the risk of causing further damage if you aren't careful. However, if you can work with your hands and can follow instructions to the letter, you should do OK.

Try these simple red ring of death fix tips before spending time or money on Xbox repair. These Xbox troubleshooting tips will cost you nothing.