If you're a XBox 360 gamer, you've either had the XBox 360 3 Red Lights Problem yourself or you know someone who has. That's just the way it is. You've probably also heard about the guides out there that tell you how to fix this problem yourself. The question is "Do they really work?" Can a guy or gal with a few simple tools really get their XBox 360 back up and running in about an hour? Well, the short answer is "yes".

Have you ever heard of "Occam's Razor?" Well if not, it's a wonderful little principle put forth by a 14th century English logician and Franciscian friar named William of Occam. It that states "All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best". In more modern terms, I guess it's the KISS principle - "Keep It Simple, Stupid". So what does this have to do with getting back to playing Halo 3 on your XBox 360? When I was first faced with the XBox 360 3 red lights problem, I was overwhelmed. It was my son's system and he was heartbroken that his game had stopped working. I didn't know what to do and ended up doing all kinds of research, Googling it left and right, learning everything I could about the problem and what one was supposed to do to get their system back up and running.

I'm here to tell you that the best thing you can do, if your XBox 360 has the 3 red lights problem (aka the Red Ring of Death) is to keep it simple. Don't over think it. Don't over research it. Just keep it simple. Yes you can fix this problem yourself and yes it does take about an hour (maybe 2 if you're overly cautious like me).

There are several guides out there that tell you exactly how to fix this problem. I bought one and had my son's XBox 360 back up and running in about 90 minutes. Then I had the bright idea of buying broken XBoxes on eBay, fixing them, and re-selling them. So I bought 4 different 3 red lights fix-it guides, I bought 4 XBox 360's on eBay that had the 3 red lights problem and I proceeded to fix each one using a different guide each time. I wanted to see if all the guides really worked. The answer is yes, they all really work.

Each guide presents essentially the same solution. But they all do it a bit differently and with various levels of clarity. In my opinion, one of them is clearly superior to the rest in terms of providing clear step-by-step instructions and supporting documentation.

If you've got the 3 red lights problem, good luck. If you choose to fix it yourself, the guide I chose as the best will get you through this fix and have you back up and fighting the aliens in no time.