One light flashes red on your Xbox 360 console

One light around the power button on your Xbox 360 console flashes red.

You might also see the following error message on your television screen or monitor: This message is followed by an error code in the format of "Exx," where xx is a two-digit number.

Note If you see error code "E74" on your screen, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

A single flashing light might indicate a hardware failure on your Xbox 360 console.

Step 1: Disconnect and reconnect all cables

1. Turn off your Xbox 360 console.
2. Unplug all memory units, controllers, and accessories from your console.
3. Unplug everything from the back of your console, including power and video cables.
4. Unplug your power supply from the wall, and then unplug the short cord from the power brick.
5. Plug everything back in. Make sure that you make all connections firmly.
   
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6. Turn on your console. If the problem still occurs, go to step 2.

Step 2: Remove the hard drive

To see whether the problem involves the Xbox 360 Hard Drive, temporarily remove the hard disk unit. If your Xbox 360 console does not have a hard disk, go to step 3. To remove the Xbox 360 Hard Drive, follow these steps:

1. Turn off the console.
2. Locate the hard disk on your console.
   
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3. Press the release button on the hard disk, and then lift the hard disk from the console.
   
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4. Turn on your console.

If these steps resolve the issue, reattach the hard disk to verify that the error occurs only when your Xbox 360 Hard Drive is connected. If this is true, contact Xbox customer support to order a replacement hard disk. To contact Xbox customer support, visit the following Web site: If this does not resolve your issue, go to step 3.

Step 3: Disconnect any memory units

1. Turn off your Xbox 360 console.
2. Unplug any memory units attached to your console.
3. Turn on the console.

If these steps resolve the issue, reattach the memory units to verify that the error occurs only when a memory unit is connected. If this is true, contact Xbox Customer Support to order a replacement memory unit. To contact Xbox Customer Support, visit the following Web site: If this does not resolve your issue, go to step 4.

Step 4: Request a repair

If the previous steps do not resolve your single flashing light issue, your Xbox 360 console must be repaired at our service center. There are no additional troubleshooting steps. To start the online repair process, click one of the following links:

• I am a U.S. customer:
  http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/nxe/registerdevice.aspx?step=repair (http://support.xbox.com/support/en/us/nxe/registerdevice.aspx?step=repair)
• I am a customer outside the U.S.:
  http://www.xbox.com/support/contact (http://www.xbox.com/support/contact)