Friday, November 12, 2010

Xbox360 freezing


XBOX360 TROUBLESHOOTING

The Xbox 360 freezing up is a common problem for console owners when playing games. I’ve had this problem myself in the past, and thought I’d try and help by offering these free tips/guides from my own experiences, as well as providing some information I have found through research.
Below is a list of things to check/try in order to help fix your Xbox 360 freezing problems.

1. Xbox 360 freezing on specific games
This is probably the most obvious tip to check, but when worrying about the fate of your console it can be easy to bypass such things. The first thing to check when your Xbox 360 is freezing up is which game you are playing. Eject the disc and have a look at the back to see if there are any scratches, markings, dirt, or anything else that might be preventing your console from reading it properly.
Once cleaned, re-insert the disc and see how it goes. If the game freezes in the same place/area/timing as previously it could be due to an error on the disc, a glitch, or a corruption in your Xbox 360 cache or game save. There will be more on this later in the article.
If the game freezes in a different area/timing to before, it is time to try another game. I’d try playing about two or three more games to see what happens (to get an average result). If your other games cause your Xbox 360 to freeze then it could be a problem with your console hard drive or overheating. If it is only the first game that caused problems then it could either be a problem with your copy, or an issue with the game that requires for it to be patched. Check online forums (such as the one on xbox.com) to see if other people are experiencing the same issues, otherwise send your game back (stating the issue and how you’ve tried to resolve it) and get a replacement.
2. Is it only freezing online?
This, admittedly, is also another simple yet common thing to check. However, I have added it to this “guide” as I want it to be as helpful as possible to everyone.
If your Xbox 360 is freezing only whilst playing online, then it is most likely down to your Internet connection rather than the console itself. Check that everything is setup correctly and that you are using filters for your broadband connection to prevent it getting affected by the phone line/phone calls. You may also need to check your firewalls and port forwarding settings.
3. Clearing your Xbox 360 Hard Drive cache
I’ve had this problem myself whilst playing Oblivion, although it was not only freezing in some places but also being very unresponsive and really slowing down when trying to talk to NPCs. Anyway, clearing the cache on your Xbox 360 is very safe and does not affect any of your game saves, profiles, demos, videos, etc (although it does delete some downloaded game auto-updates, which will be easy to download again afterwards). It is mainly temporary data that is stored in order to make certain areas of games load faster. These can sometimes corrupt, making your Xbox struggle when trying to read them and eventually just freezing up.
To clear your Xbox 360 cache you need to do the following:
“a. Locate the System section of the Xbox 360 Dashboard. b. Select Memory, select Hard Drive, and then press Y to view the device options screen.c. On the Xbox 360 Controller, press the X button, press the X button again, press the left bumper, press the right bumper, press the X button, and then press the X button again.d. You will be prompted to confirm system maintenance, select Yes by pressing A.”

1 comment:

  1. hey cheers irish pa if it wasnt for this blog man i probly would have jst bought a new xbox becouse i dnt have the patience for all the freezing it done tanks a lot man hope to see alot more about the xbox from you... you deffinetly know wat your talking about... tanks again pal..

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