Error E 74

call the tech support 1-800-4my-xbox. when you get to max just press 0 until you get connected to a person. then lie and tell them you got 3 rings of death not 1. once you do that they will give you the box to send it in the mail. they don't check the just swap yours out with one that was fixed....
-R Dubs

the towel trick is def only temp. i called xbox and they want 100$ to fix it. I am going to either threaten to call bbb ( better business burough) of actually file a report if they won't do anything about their faulty hardware. I think that everyone else should do the same.

i got the same error, and what idid was i removed the hard drive, blew on it, and let it sit for a minute or 2. after this it worked fine

take it to game station they swped mine without reciept

1. do the damn towel trick.
this is a temp fix
2. go sell it to gamestop w/o HDD
3. GO back the next day and buy a new 360
 i had to do this cuz my xbox was stolen

Worked for me. Wrapped in towel for 5 minutes. Took it off and let it cool down. Error E74 gone (for now).

Okay, you can pay xbox about $150 and they will fix it. your xbox is overheating and it is happening to all of them. If you don't want to try that, I have heard of a solution some people, even a friend of mine has wrapped a towel around it and just left it on. It will counteract itself and reboot itself to normal and you will be able to play with it. when and if you fix it, unplug it when not in use and don't play marathon times with it.

Thanks
connie

i had error 74 .The only way you will fix it is by doing the x clamp fix ,then over heat the system by unpluging the fans until you get two red lights. My 360 has been work ever since.

E74 is chip failure

okay the error e 74 is a problem with the heat sync not av cables or accessories. In order to fix it you need to take apart the xbox 360 and remove the flat silver heat sync, then take some thermal past and put it on the chip that connects to the heat sync then place the heat sync back on and boot up the system while applying pressure on the heat sync. the xbox should be working and all thats left is to put it back together. I did this to mine and its been working for over 6 months now.

just send it in

I wrapped my 360 with a towel and left it for about 30 minutes. I let it cool down for 15 minutes then used a fan under the 360 for about 25 minutes and it worked fine. so no worries :)

alright i am probaly not telling anyone anything new but just incase microsoft are a bunch of morons give them a call if u still have your warinty oh and DONT TRY THE TOWEL TRICK!!!! it can fry the xbox oh adn unless you are very familiar with electronics dont take it apart because xbox wont do a damn thing if u break the seal

just for a reminder, the towel basically overheats the system, so there is a chance of your xbox 360 getting fried and becoming a boat anchor.

i heard the towel thing is bad for the xbox.i tried everything swithcing the hdmi cables to av cables unplug and repluging everything but nothing worked.I got error e74 from having my xbox setting on 1080i for my LCD Tv. but when i brought it to a friends house plugged it in and i got error e74 from having my xbox at 1080i which his tv couldnt handle.so i had to go back to my house switch the settings to a lower setting capable for non hdtv's brought it back to his house and it worked.the second time i got the error e74 i didnt know how i got it so i called techsupport and they told me that error e74 is from either 3 things.1.the av or hdmi cables are not working correctly,the plug inside the xbox360 that the av or hdmi cables plug into is malfunctioning then ur xbox needs repairing(the worst of the three).and 3. The problem i had when error e74 was the HDD drive is malfunctioning,all you got to do is take out ur hard drive,turn it on and it should work.if it does turn it off put back in the Hard drive and if it works,ur good to go.but if it doesnt you need a new HDD and youll lose all ur game data.

microsoft robbed everybody who brought a 360 because mine went in 6 months. I think everyone should get together a complain or even send your complains to a news station so they can warn everyone about the 360.

Try fooling around with it till you get the 3 red lights. Then wrap it in a towel for half an hour than let it cool for 10 minuets. Or leave it off for several hours.

The first thing I did with the xbox I bought brand new was to take the entire thing apart and 'fix' the problems that microsoft so generously built into the systems.  If you are technically inclined, there is the 'xclamp' mod, and the '12v stock fan' mod.  These two together go a long way toward eliminating the issues caused by the massive heat generated inside the 360.  Of course, doing these things voids the microsoft warranty.  I would not suggest this action for the typical user.  I have 16 years of electronics hardware experience to work from.  So am comfortable with fixing the systems myself if anything goes wrong.

But yeah, microsoft really screwed up with the initial design of the 360.  Its really pitiful they released it with these obvious overheating problems.

Try this solution it works for the 3 red light it might work in this case too. Just don't do it if you still have your warranty.
http://www.fixya.com/support/t142158-3_f...

if anyone bought their xbox from gamestation like i did, they said to me you get an additional 2 years warranty. so if you have tired everything including towel trick, for e74 message, phone up xbox line if they say, your warranty is over just tell them you got it from game station, should be ok, then carry out everything else, get it repaired free, if you live in UK,UPS, (or some other business like that) comes to colllect it( not sure about USA). Usually takes about 2 weeks if not more, definetly not more than 5 weeks, altough not quite sure.

i have the same problem....towel wrap only works for so long.
i have found a petition and signed it..hopefully every1 does http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?360recal&251

1. Turn off the console, disconnect all the cables, and then reconnect all the cables. Turn the console back on. 2. Turn off the console, and then disconnect any accessories that are connected. For example disconnect any Xbox 360 controllers, Xbox 360 Memory Units, and the Xbox 360 Hard Drive. With the accessories disconnected, restart the console to see whether the problem continues to occur. This can help determine whether the console or an accessory is experiencing the problem. - it is not the AV cables or even the port where we connect it, it is one of the hardware failure and if not able to solved this by following the troubleshooting steps provided then we just hoped that your console will have the extended warranty to send this console for repair. But most likely, most of us who'd experience this inconvinience, will have no option but to send the system to micrisoft

The Warranty period for the 360 was extended to 3 years after your initial date of purchase. Call up Microsoft and send it back to them for just the cost of shipping.

try firmly tapping the top of the xbox this worked once for me!

my solution is to buy a playstation 3 xbox is a pile of pish

Bullshit i have the e74 error the only way to fix this is to replace the thermal paste on GPU and the spray the entire motherboard with shit to stop it from overheating and going brown. this is the only way i found to cure thsi problem and is a permanent fix to this problem. if this does not work for you then you have one more option which is to sit down ND FART ON THE MOTHERBOARD UNTIL IT OVERHEATS, THIS WILL MELT THE COLD SOLDER JOINTS BACK TOGETHER BUT WILL NOT FIX IT PERMANENTLY AS WHEN YOU PLAY THEY WILL HEAT UP AND MOVE APART.

THANKS

obviosly the problem is heat inside the box if you warranty is up and you want a good cheap fix drill holes in the cover to leat the heat escape box. These things are like ovens and the heat has no where to go so it just gets hotter.

My son x-box had the same problem. The heat grease condutor between the heat sink and the graphics chip had broken down to where it was not transfering the chip heat to the heat sink and causing it to overheat, warp the board and break the connection of the chip. We pressed down to resecure the graphic chip (as seen on you tube), striped the old layer of heat grease, cleaned the surface and applied some new grease I purchased from FRY's (local electronic store). The test last night went well and it was working today. I think we have fixed the issue.

I had the same problem. And the soloution was for me was as some others have said. The heatsink on the processor needs removed, cleaned of the old thermal paste, and reapply new thermal paste. There our a ton of videos on YouTube on opening your xbox, and also on the issue of what to do when you get it open. I found it wouldn't work untill I started the xbox without the heatsink on, so it would give me two red lights. That was the only way to "reset it" in a way. It had only been a week so far, but so far so good and no problems as of yet. I would not recommend the towell thing. That's like fixing a roof with bubble gum and duct tape.

Try this trick! 

hey galvin
This issue is pretty easy to spot, since it is related to a heat issue on the motherboard of an 360. What i suggest is pretty much going to spoil the warrenty, so what u do is open the the xbox to reveal the board with the fancy silver heatsink, once the 360 is off. Remove the big silver heatsink and turn it on, so u should get more red lights. Then turn off the xbox again and put back the heatsink mentioned earlier back on and turn the 360 on. Voila, no more redlights. If this doesnt help, better to buy a another xbox 360 or even better a ps3 since ps3 dont have any issues besides the tv cable menu selection red screen issue.

buy a playstation 3

first open it then once u see the bndages inside or if u dont have bandages then u should make 4 stacks of pennies 2 in each group then wrap it in the black parts were the badages were used to be or those black square spots on the x-clamp side then put it back together and then towl trick it then it works then it works for me it is now working for me about 1 month now=D

try and get a new chip for the 360 and connect it to the 360

Yeah this worked for me :)

Watch it to get ur xbox fixed in minutes

use this guy. he will tell eerything you need to fix the xbox. mine had the three rings and it works like a charm now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo2dl2vlwis

The towel trick worked like a charm, but only for like 3 days at a time. Finally I just took the hard drive off the top and I gave it a couple of firm hits on the top with the bottom of my fist and it has been working for about 5 weeks now.

I found this site that solved my problem completlly:
http://www.xbox360-3redlightsfix.com/Xbox2/error-e74.html

Dude this is the deal microsoft will give you

If you have extended warranty on ur xbox they will fix it for nothing but if u dont have it well then if u decide to buy it will cost you like 140 bucks

Or

You can buy a new 360

I just got this like a day ago so yea it sucks I dont see why microsoft when producing the product they just make it so it does not have this problem

2sed4344e34er4wr4134r`eq2 Flap yo weena on yo xbox and **** on it

this happened to me on christmas day. i got a new xbox today basically if u have a reciept u say it broke before ur warranty had run out, they HAVE to believe you, and they will test it and they shud give u a new one.

I would make sure the place is quite busy because they will take u to one side and sort it out, plus they will not be thinking about it and they will give u and leave, i got 3 free months and i got to keep my hard drive.

I do NOT recommend one of these "fix it yourself" things because if they find you have messed with it no matter how long ur warranty is it will become void so u will have to buy a brand new xbox if it breaks!

i had the same problem,i fixed by putting a shim on the anna chip the chip is situated in the left back side just being the chip with the heat sink on the left , i put the shim on the chip just thick an af to apply pressure whith the air duct on an putting back dvd player on , the idea is to put pressure on the chip it help if a solder is bad underneat , good luck you can see how to do it on you tube my console is working great since that fix

alright quit witht the goddamn towel trick it breaks the consale even more water and electricty doesnt work just send it in or fix it your self

Watch this video and it will teach you how to do the towel trick the other guy is talking about. You won't believe this at first, but it works.
Here is the link. http://youtube.com/watch?v=hjjinHmEoss&feature=related

IF YOU HAVE AN OLDER XBOX OR ANY XBOX THAT WON'T STAY FIXED EVEN AFTERE THE X-CLAMP FIX OR E74 THAT KEEPS COMING BACK AFTER A FEW DAYS. YOU CAN TRY THIS MOD THAT I DO FOR ALL MY CUSTOMERS AND IT SEEMS TO WORK. I HAVEN'T HAD ANYONE CALL BACK FOR MONTHS NOW AFTER THIS MOD.

BASICALLY, WHAT WE'RE TRYING TO DO IS MOUNT THE DVD ROM ON TOP OF THE CASE, DRILL SOME HOLES DIRECT NEAR THE POWER AND SATA PORT AND RUN THE CABLES ON TOP OF THE CASE. THE TRICK IS TO MAKE IT EASIER DRILLING THE HOLES BY REMOVING THE METAL PLATE ON THE TOP HALF OF THE CASE.

THIS IS NOT A FULL TUTORIAL SO YOU'RE OBVIOUSLY GONNA HAVE TO FIND OUT HOW TO SOLDER THE ADDED 80MM FAN TO A 12V SOURCE I DO IT FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE MAIN POWER PLUG. AND SCREW OR EVEN TAPE IT DIRECTLY ON TOP OF THE GPU HEATSINK PUSHING AIR DOWN TOWARD IT.

THIS IS WHAT THIS MOD IS ABOUT IT MAKES ROOM FOR THIS FAN BY MOVING THE DVD OUTSIDE OF THE CASE AND THIS FAN KEEPS THE GPU FROM OVERHEATING AND CAUSING THE e74 OR 3 RED LIGHTS

FOR THE EJECT BUTTON YOU CAN JUST POSITION IT IN THE SAME SPOT AND ZIP TIE IT TO THE BOTTOM PIECE OF THE CASE IT WILL STILL WORK THE SAME.

also becareful when your are screwing the top of the case with the long screws cuz without the metal plate you have to know when to stop screwing it in cuz it will cause the top piece to bend out of shape and you won't be able to align the eject button or even snap the 2 pieces of the case back together. I usually just use 3 of the 6 long screws and do one on each back corner and one on the front middle then use the 3 extra screws to bolt down the dvd rom into the holes that are already there on the top piece of the case you will have to drill a hole for the last screw. This will keep the dvd rom securely in place and would recommend you buying a longer sata cable cuz the original one is not long enough. Also pull the sata cable all outside and tuck it under the rom. Better for the air flow and won't get caught up in the fan.

THIS MOD IS TeSTeD AND IT WORKS GREAT CUZ MY HALO EDITION 360 HAD THE E74 AND EVERYTIME I REVIVE IT, IT WOULD COME BACK IN LIKE A DAY, THEN I THOUGHT OF THIS MOD AND SO FAR ITS BEEN 3 MONTHS AND ITS STILL RUNNING LIKE A CHAMP QUIET TOO ALMOST SILENT CUZ TEMP SENSORS DON'T JUICE UP THE VOLTAGE ON THE 2 BACK FANS CUZ OF THE HEAT. AND I ADDED SOME DIFFERENT COLOUR LEDS INSIDE AND IT ACTUALLY LOOKS PRETTY GOOD
HERE IS A LINK IF YOU WANT TO SEE SOME PICTURES
http://360mods.net/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=17296

No you can' t acquire another chip.It was made by Microsoft specifically for the Xbox 360.So Micro soft won't sale the chip they need it for future consoles.So buy a new one or send it for repairs.

Just open the stupid thing up and get the 3 red light repair kit but only use one set of the screws and one set of washers and fix the xclamp over the GPU. Ive done it many times and allll my xboxs work fine now.

All these posts and some many confused folks.
E 74 is not covered by the warranty that Microsoft extended to 3 years. They want $100 to fix E74. Why pay that when you can fix it for 12 cents?

Seriously, if you have the E 74 error and know how to take a part a computer (same as 360 basically)
Follow the page listed above to a "T" and your problem will be solved.

http://fastercomp.co.uk/error_e74_fix.html

not sure how long this lasts, but it works

All you should do when talking to xbox support, is say that you have the 3 RROD. If you tell them this you will get your xbox repaired for free, seeing as it has a 3 year waranty on the RROD. Also when it is getting repaired they have no evidence of the console not actually having the RROD because sometimes it can come and go.

E74 is a graphics error. Usually is due to some small chips (scaller chips I think is how you spell it) in the rear of the motherboard. Xbox tells you its the A/V cable, which is possible thta it causes this error, but is about as likely as a PS3 messing up. You have about a 20% chance of the x-clamp eliminating this problem cause it could be the GPU, but like mentioned before, its usually the smaller chipset. USUALLY, the xclamp mod only fixes the RROD fault anyway.

clean the Heat Sink and GPU and replace the thermal gel. Then remove silver fan turn on xbox and turn off. if it doesnt turn off then unplug and plug back in. Then put fan back on apply little bit of pressure and turn on hold down fan untill xbox is working again.

okay, E74 is a GPU problem, and i do believe that it has something to do with a chip failure or something.
I have heard that it falls out of a socket or something, so yeah.
Either look it up or send it in.

error e74 is the scaler chips!

e74 is the av cable i think...

E74 is an AV cable error!

Don't do the towel trick.

Microsoft are now refurbing the Xnox 360 that you send in so it will only lead to more damage if you have to send it in.

if your warrenty is expired or your to cheap to send it in to xbox u can dissasemble your xbox remove to heat sink clean the gpu with alchol and reapply new thermal gel such as silver 5 reput on the heat sink and it should fix it permantly u may have to over heat it after u do this, but then it should be good to go. did it to mine

if youve had it for only a year n a half u should still have the warranty from Microsoft even if u didnt purchase a warranty

here y are u all sayin e74 is heat?? its a problem with the av cables or the av chip.. NOT HEAT i hav a coolin fan on my xbox nd i still got the e74 error

all you have to do is let it sit for a day or two unplugged and then plug it back in adn try. if it still says E 74, then turn it off and on and keep doing this like 15-20 times. i did it like 17 or 18 times and it works. Note, there is a risk permanatly damaging your motherboard doing this.