Feeling down because your Xbox won't stop freezing? Do you keep getting the ring of death failure. You are now a member of an expanding international group of frustrated Xbox owners.

Having a lot of company that share your problem doesn't help you any, so this article will discuss your Xbox 360 repair options. In no particular order, they are:

1.) You can return your Xbox to Microsoft for a replacement. If your Xbox warranty is still valid, they'll do this free of charge. Otherwise, they will charge you well over a hundred dollars.

If for any reason your console was opened, Microsoft will not honor the warranty. Whether or not you were attempting self repair or had other reasons that seem justifiable, your warranty is void.

Also note that this process can take a long time. Two weeks or so is about the average turn around time. There is also a specific procedure that Microsoft requires you to follow for returning your Xbox.

2.) You can try nursing your machine back to good health. If your Xbox hasn't had many ring of death failures, then maybe there hasn't been much heat damage. Future problems could be avoided by not allowing your Xbox to get too hot.

Overheating is the root cause for the red ring of death. Keep the cooling vents open and free of obstructions. Use your Xbox in an open and cool environment. Limit your playing times to no more than three or four hours.

If you've been getting a lot of ring of death errors, then a good deal of damage has been done. Avoiding the ring of death may not be possible by keeping your Xbox cool. If there's been significant heat damage to your machine, the ring of death will occur with greater frequency.

3.) You can fix your Xbox yourself. Before doing this, remember that you will lose your warranty if you open your console. But if you have an expired or voided warranty, then you are free to open up and work inside of your console.

Doing your own repair can be intimidating or may sound complicated. But with the right information and some common household tools, it's very doable. There's a lot of information on the Internet about this both free and paid.

The problem with free information is the amount of research that has to be done. There's an enormous amount of bad advice on the Internet and weeding out good information is time consuming.

There are a number of paid instructional guides available that will show you exactly how to fix your Xbox yourself. Make sure that there's a guarantee of some kind. Unlike the free information out there, the guarantee introduces some accountability and thus improves your chances of getting information that actually works without damaging your Xbox. It also helps if the guide provides instruction in both video and text formats.

With a bit of luck, one of these options will work for your situation so that you can enjoy your gaming again.