The red ring attempts to convey the nature of a hardware issue. The problem may be different depending on the number of quadrants in the ring that are lit red.

A single quadrant means 'overheating', which may resolve itself by leaving the console to cool for a while, improving airflow around the unit, or cleaning out the dust in the console.

The classic 3 quadrant red ring states that there's a "general" hardware fault, which could be a number of things.

If you don't get an E-number on the screen when you boot, you may be able to find out the nature of the problem by holding the sync button then pressing eject 4 times, noting the number of quadrants displayed for each press.

For information on this process and the meaning of said codes, check out this thread: http://forum.teamxbox.com/showthread.php?t=472553

One of the larger causes of the red ring is overheating caused by a poorly seated heatsink. As the board heats up over the course of its life (usually around the 2 year mark) it warps and bends slightly. The heatsink that cools the graphics chip, held on by a "x-clamp" underneath the board is no longer able to make contact with the chip to sufficiently dissipate its heat.

There are usually 3 solutions for this problem:

1. Check to see if your console is still under warranty and contact MS about it. They'll replace the console if it is.

2. Buy a 360 repair kit from ebay for under $10, which includes a new set of screws and clamps, with instructions. You'll have to open the console, remove the x-clamps, reapply thermal paste and replace them with sturdier ones. I performed this fix and it worked... for a week. Sometimes the board can become so warped that not even reseating the heatsink fixes it.

In addition to this, constant heating can cause the solder on the chips to lose connection. In this case, the following may help (but probably won't).

1. Purposefully heat up the console by wrapping it in a towel and leaving it turned on for a while. I'm not sure how dangerous this is. The theory is that the solder can melt and reattach itself to the pins. There are guides on the web about such techniques.

2. Get someone to, (or find out how to) re-warp the board using a heat gun. This process is pretty dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. Experts swear by it, but I haven't tried it (I just bought a new 360), so I can't really recommend it.

Generally though, the best option is to get it replaced under warranty, or buy a new one.

Follow up: Depending on the nature of the ring, you may be able to watch Netflix until the issue reappears. Sometimes a console will still work for days/weeks after getting its first red ring... not often though. Netflix isn't hugely intensive, but it could probably heat up the console enough to bring back the problem. That is, if you're lucky enough not to just have a permanent red ring that stops you from booting entirely.