The Xbox 360 has experienced a wide variety of hardware problems since its release and these mainly seem to be due to overheating. The three red lights error seems to cause the most problems and currently seems likely to affect 30% of all systems.

So why does this happen?

The error is caused by the processing units overheating and is not so much due to where you store your Xbox 360 as much as its basic design. The chips generate a huge amount of heat and the system is programmed to shut down if they overheat in order to protect the system. The motherboard can also warp in the excessive heat, causing the soldering to come loose which also causes problems.

How do I fix it?

Once those red lights come up you can't prevent it from happening, obviously, so you have to get the system repaired. You can send it off to Microsoft who will fix it for you, but this takes a long time, up to three months in some cases.

You can also repair the unit yourself using a repair guide - these are easily found online and often include videos that walk you through every step of the process. This involves making some adjustments inside the console to help it dissipate heat more efficiently.

Make sure you look around for opinions on any particular guide so that you can get an idea of its quality and usefulness before you commit your money. Also contact the customer service department and see how long it takes them to respond and whether they do so in a helpful way.

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