I only had myself to blame! For months my mates had been telling me I was a certainty to get RROD (xbox red rings of death). I don't deserve sympathy; I knew by hammering my xbox for hours on end, I would cause the xbox to fry itself; and me to have to find an xbox three red lights fix.

Anyhow the damage is done; what's caused it and can I fix it?

Most of all RROD and e74 errors can be traced to the design flaw of the x-clamps that hold the CPU & GPU to the heatsinks. The xbox x-clamps bend when hot, and take the motherboard with them. So breaking the soldered contacts with CPU & GPU processors and so causing the infamous xbox red rings of death / RROD.

You can get anywhere from 1 - 4 red rings and in my case 3 red rings.

I knew from my mate Steve who fixes these things that this was a heat related problem, and easy to fix (for him that is!).

He'd told me that there are 2 xbox three red lights fix options:-

1. A full removal of those pesky xbox x clamps

2. A work around where you "support" the x clamps to prevent them bending when hot.

Which xbox three red lights fix is best?

A full xbox x clamp fix requires far more work removing the x clamps and cleaning and replacing the thermal paste that conducts the heat form the overheating processors out of the xbox through the two heatsinks. You don't need any special tools (small screwdriver and a flat head screwdriver, and occasionally pliers), but you do have to take everything apart.

A partial xbox clamp fix, doesn't require taking it all apart, as it

"supports" the x clamps to prevent them bending when heated. Also known as the "xbox penny fix", as it uses pennies insulted with electrical tape to form the "support". This fix is good if you "feel" you're xbox isn't too badly damaged by heat.

Because my expert mate Steve was away, I decided to do the xbox three red lights fix myself, but follow the step by step video instruction provided by one of the many xbox repair manuals available off the Internet.

This was actually the hardest part, as there are so many to choose from, but if you're thinking of doing the ring of death xbox fix yourself, take my advice:-

1. Solid money back guarantee - These guides are now mostly video tutorials, and are therefore instantly accessible, so if your xbox is not up and running in 2 hours, claim your money back.

2. Always go for the video guides - I simply fired up the video, and followed the guy step by step through the whole process - simple.

3. Look at the bonus offers that come with the guides. Sometimes these are worth more than the guide costs!

It is in fact quite easy, and doesn't require special tools.

And with the guarantee you've nothing to loose, except valuable game time!