Xbox 360 freezing is a very common problem. In fact, close to 1 million people are dealing with the Xbox 360 freezing. In an official Microsoft announcement in July 2007, Microsoft admitted that 5% of all consoles sold are failing and the rest are likely to fail.
If you want help with Xbox 360 freezing and want to fix your Xbox 360 once and for all, then this article is for you.
The cause of the Xbox 360 freezing
Your green lights will turn into 3 red lights that will start flashing when your GPU (graphics processing unit) comes loose. The GPU (which is on the motherboard) gets loose when the motherboard gets hot. As the motherboard heats up, it begins to vibrate. These vibrations loosen the solder that holds the GPU in place, and every time it comes loose, your Xbox 360 freezes up.
This article will help you with Xbox 360 overheating and freezing, but before you do anything, know this: the towel fix you may have read about is bogus. It will damage your Xbox 360 and make the problem worse. 94% of Xbox 360 red light errors don’t need new parts, just a little tweaking to fix.
If you use the “towel” solution, you risk permanent damage and you may no longer be able to fix your Xbox 360 freezing on your own (you’ll need to send it in for repair). You have been warned.
How to Fix Xbox 360 Freezing
Before you start, I suggest you watch a professional Xbox 360 repair guide with videos and pictures. A professional Xbox 360 freezing repair guide will show you everything step by step, which can really help you in this process.
Here’s how to fix Xbox 360 freezing:
1. Disassemble your case. Using a fine point poker, drill out the dimmed holes (they are the latches that hold it together) and on the back drill out the tiny rectangular holes. Remove the faceplate and move the latch up on the DVD drive as you remove it. Unscrew the metal box that is just below the plastic box.
2. Pull out the DVD drive and disconnect the cables.
3. Remove the fan and motherboard.
4. Flip the motherboard over and using the poker, pry the X-brace out from under the heat sink by prying up the corners. The heat sink is the big silver slotted box.
5. Unscrew the heat sink to reveal the CPU and GPU.
6. Clean GPU and CPU (Critical step to stop Xbox 360 freezing)
7. Apply arctic silver thermal compound (you can find a $1 tube at any computer store) generously over the GPU.
8. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
9. Put 2 nylon washers on each of the heat sink screws. Replace the screws on the motherboard. Now, with the screws pushing up through the motherboard, add 2 more nylon washers to the screws.
10. Place the heat sink on top of the screws, pushing them down a bit, then screw them in. Make sure they are tight. This will really help with Xbox 360 freezing.
11. Put everything back together. Turn it on.
There, now you should have fixed your Xbox 360 freezing.
If you need help with images or videos, again, I suggest you check out an Xbox 360 freezing repair guide.
Xbox 360 Freeze Repair Guides are pretty cheap at around $25, saving you over $100 when you ship it to Microsoft. Also, Xbox 360 freeze repair can take up to 6 weeks if you ship it.
Whatever you do, do nothing. Xbox 360 freezing will not go away on its own. Once you freeze your Xbox 360, you will continue to have the 3 flashing red lights until you fix your system.
Best of luck in fixing your Xbox 360 freezing issue!