General Troubleshooting FAQ

• Why does my console freeze sometimes?
• How do I change my Xbox 360 Dashboard theme?
• I can't seem to see the setting to change my PAL50/60 settings. Where is it?
• What do I do if I get 3 flashing red lights on my Xbox 360 console?
• Why do I see an unclear display or graphical or polygon issues with some games?
• My console doesn't seem to power on. What can I do?
• Why is the harddrive showing only 13Gb of free space?
• How do I purchase an extended warranty through Microsoft?

Q: Why does my console freeze sometimes?

A: This could be due to a number of factors including: poor ventilation of the console, or issues with the specific disc (e.g. its dirty etc). See the knowledge base article below for how to troubleshoot this problem:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907586

Q: How do I change my Xbox 360 Dashboard theme?

A: See the article: 'Xbox 360: How to set and change themes in the Xbox Guide and the Xbox Dashboard' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/906664)

Q: I can't seem to see the setting to change my PAL50/60 settings. Where is it?

A: It’s likely that you are connected to your TV using a High Definition setting. To see, the PAL settings, you need to switch your TV settings to standard definition.

For High definition TVs

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:

1. Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
2. Find the HDTV switch on the AV Connector, and then set the switch to TV.
3. Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
4. In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
5. Select Console Settings, and then press the A button. 
6. Select Display, and then press the A button.
7. Select PAL settings, and then press the A button.
8. Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
9. When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
10. Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
11. Set the HDTV switch on the AV Connector to HDTV.

For VGA cables

To set your Xbox 360 console to PAL 60 Hz, follow these steps:

1. Use an Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or an Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable. To do this, follow these steps:  
   1. Turn off the Xbox 360 console.
   2. Remove the VGA cable, and then connect the Xbox 360 Composite AV Cable or the Xbox 360 Component HD AV Cable that came with your Xbox 360 system.
   3. Connect the console to the TV, and then make sure that you set the HDTV switch on the AV connector to TV.
2. Configure the console to use PAL 60 Hz. To do this, follow these steps:  
   1. Turn on the Xbox 360 console.
   2. In the Xbox Dashboard, select System, and then press the A button.
   3. Select Console Settings, and then press the A button. 
   4. Select Display, and then press the A button.
   5. Select PAL settings, and then press the A button. 
   6. Select PAL-60, and then press the A button.
   7. When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
   8. When you are prompted to keep these new settings, confirm the settings, and then press the A button.
3. Connect the VGA cable again to play the game.

Q: What do I do if I get 3 flashing red lights on my Xbox 360 console?

A: See the article: 'Xbox 360: Three red lights flash on the Ring of Light' (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907534)

Q: Why do I see an unclear display or graphical or polygon issues with some games?

A: This could be due to a settings issue with your TV setup. Use the article below to troubleshoot this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911151

Q: My console doesn't seem to power on. What can I do?

A: Use the article below to troubleshoot this issue:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/907588

Q: Why is the hard drive showing only 13Gb of free space?

A: The size of the Xbox 360 hard drive is 20 GB. Of this amount, approximately 4 GB is reserved for game title caching and other hard drive specific elements in games that support the hard drive. An additional 2 GB is reserved for use by the Xbox 360 backward compatibility software. This leaves you with almost 14 GB of free space (rounded down to 13 GB) to save game files, downloadable content and music, and other media. For more information on this, see: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/911593   

Q: How do I purchase an extended warranty through Microsoft?

A: For more information on this for Xbox 360, see the link below:
http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/support/xbox360/extwarranty.htm