Xbox 360 Error E74 – I have a flashing red light and error code on my screen! What does it mean?
If you’re an Xbox 360 owner, you’ve probably heard some of the horror stories that the console suffers from hardware failure from time to time. This article will tell you a bit more about the Xbox 360 E74 error and what causes it, as well as the options you have to fix it.
The E74 error is a “scaler” chip error and this chip deals with the signals being sent from your AV cable. You know you have this particular error because when you turn on your Xbox you see a blinking red light in the bottom right corner. It is usually accompanied by some error message on the screen and is usually something like “E74 Error – Telephone Customer Support”, however it could be another E number displayed.
Many people, when they find out it’s the AV cable chip, go out and buy a new AV cable and sadly this won’t fix it. To fix this problem, you should know that the problem occurs due to overheating in the same way that the 3 red lights also occur. You really have 2 ways to fix Xbox 360 E74 error and that is to send it back to Microsoft or get a good repair guide and fix it yourself. To do the first option, you’ll already have the customer support number on your screen so you can call Microsoft right away.
This is a good option and you can expect the repair to take a while as most repair times are 3-6 weeks! This is too long for some players and if you’ve just gotten your hands on a fresh copy of Fable II, you’ll certainly want to get back in the game! Well, the other option you have is to get a good Xbox 360 repair guide that will show you the steps you need to take to get rid of this error and basically show you how to stop heat buildup on your motherboard. thus stopping the problem.
When going down this route, it’s a good idea to make sure you get a guide that has full video instructions, even if you’re pretty good with the technical stuff. If you’re not that technical, it goes without saying that you should make sure you get a guide that actually SHOWS you how to fix it. Also be sure to test customer support beforehand and then you can judge how helpful the support team is before committing.
Lastly, make sure any guide offers a full guarantee, because if you find you can’t get it to work, then you can choose the first option and send it back to Microsoft without losing anything! I hope this article has helped explain what the E74 error means and how you can most effectively fix it!
Happy gaming!