Back in 2007, Microsoft extended the warranties on its Xbox 360 game consoles to three years to cover widespread hardware failures dubbed the “Red Ring of Death.” Although many Xbox 360 owners used their consoles without problems, a significant minority did see their consoles go belly-up—some estimates had failure rates for Xbox 360s over 16 percent.
Now, the company is extending the Xbox 360 warranty again, only this time they aren’t covering the “Red Ring of Death” but the dreaded “E74” failure, which simply reads “E74. System Error. Contact Xbox Customer Support.” Sometimes the problem can be solved by turning the console off, disconnecting all peripherals, reconnecting peripherals, and turning the console back on, but if the error is permanent Microsoft will refund the amount paid for out-of-warranty service to repair a console experiencing the E74 message. Customers who have already paid Microsoft for the repair should receive a refund in 4 to 12 weeks; customers who don’t receive a refund should contact Xbox support before November 1, 2009, to place a claim.
The E74 messages are reportedly caused by a fault display connector or graphics controller chip, although Microsoft has not categorically identified the cause of the problem. Although no figures are available, reports indicate the E74 problem is considerable less widespread than the “Red Ring of Death” problem Microsoft previously extended Xbox 360 warranties to cover.
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