Does your Xbox 360 have RROD, E74 or some other common error? Confused about which Xbox 360 solution is right for you?
Many owners are overwhelmed with the number of possible Xbox 360 solutions available on the Internet.
Most people are looking for the quickest fix possible, but you should make sure you keep an eye out for so-called “quick fixes.” Some of those quick fixes include the towel trick, which involves wrapping your Xbox 360 in a towel, and the toothpick/clip trick, which involves stopping fans with toothpicks or clips. The towel, toothpick, and paperclip trick are three well-known Xbox 360 fixes and are all over YouTube. Both of these supposed fixes are harmful to your system, and I strongly advise you to stay away from them. These fixes overheat the entire system, instead of just targeting the problem areas, causing more problems than you had before.
The two tricks I mentioned above will get you a working Xbox 360 for about a week max. That is, if it doesn’t damage the system during the process. Both the towel and the toothpick trick are designed to heat up your Xbox 360 so that the solder on the GPU chip can reattach itself to the motherboard. The GPU is a computer chip that is almost always responsible for causing red rings of death (RROD). Now most of the time you can reattach the GPU to the motherboard with the towel or toothpick trick, but there are two main issues/risks. The first problem is that the system alone doesn’t generate enough heat to fully reconnect the GPU to the motherboard. Another risk is that the motherboard is not properly isolated. If the motherboard is not properly isolated, you risk damaging other components on the motherboard. The Xbox 360 motherboard can never be properly isolated unless you disassemble the console. If a solution does not involve opening the console, it will most likely not work or last a very short time.
So, if your warranty has expired and you’re determined to fix your Xbox 360 yourself, steer clear of the towel trick, the toothpick trick, and any other quick fix that doesn’t require you to open your console.