Bombs are dropping all around you lighting the sky in orange bursts.
That last riddle of machine gun fire was just a little too close for comfort, and you're almost out of ammo.
You see an opening into the Soviet warehouse.
Surely you will be able to replenish .
.
.
What the? The dreaded red ring of fire! Your friends have had this happen to their Xbox 360 systems, but surely it can't be happening to yours.
You take good care of your Xbox.
You keep it safe on the shelf in the cabinet with the DVR.
You don't deserve this; so what the heck just happened? Well in all likelihood in your eagerness to protect your prized Xbox by stacking it in a closed space with other electronics you actually caused it to overheat, and overheating is one of the primary causes of the red ring of fire.
But take heart, your system may recover.
Immediately unplug your Xbox and let it cool down.
If it is stacked in a cabinet with other electronics get it out of there.
After at least an hour, and this does not mean ten minutes, plug in just the TV and power cords and turn your Xbox back on.
If it works, you just dodged a bullet (no pun intended!); if not it's time to ship it off for repair.
Hopefully forewarned is forearmed.
By keeping your system away from other electronics you can keep your Xbox from overheating and enjoy hours of gritty, fast paced fun.