Xbox scratching discs

milliemonster

My son has an Xbox 360 slim about 18 months old, he took it to his nannas over the weekend where his 2 year old cousin knocked it over and since then it's not playing games correctly.

The 2 games he has tried to play, when he has taken them out of the machine there is a perfectly symmetrical scored line around the disc about a third of the way in from the outside, it's done this to 2 games and they play but are a bit hit and miss so we're not willing to risk putting any more games in. I'm wondering if the laser has been knocked out of alignment?

Anyone got any ideas? if it's repairable, who to go to to get it repaired and possible costs?

Thanks

crabyducky

IM guessing it's out of warranty if it's 18 months old, or did you buy extended cover when you got it? (some shops offer this when you first buy a xbox).

DVD drive probably needs repairing. Microsoft will charge approx£80-£90.
You could repair it yourself however this can be complicated and a daunting task if your not technically minded, this would cost you around half the price of Microsoft.

Your only other option is to buy a replacement. You can pick them up second hand for fairly cheap, especially if you buy the 4GB version, even new the 4GB versions aren't that expensive especially with xmas around the corner.

EDIT: changed a few words.

milliemonster

Thanks for that, it is the 4gb version he was (we were going to upgrade the hard drive for xmas for him anyway!) trouble is we've bought most of his xmas presents now already and wasn't factoring in a new console, but a lot of his presents are reliant on his xbox (gold membership, games and microsoft points so he can get minecraft!)

I know my husband has had a look at self repair but although he's pretty handy I am a bit concerned it might be a little bit beyond him to be honest.

Hmmm, will have to have a think about this one

crabyducky

Does he have a hard drive already? If you installs the games on the hard drive it causes less ware on the drive and disks. Once a game is installed the Fisk only spins to start the game.

You could try this with one of the already scratched games, so you don't end up with anymore scratched games.

There are videos and walkabouts for repairing xbox DVD drives all over the net. You could get the other half to watch/read some of them to see if he thinks it would be something he could do.

I found.d the worst part for replacing my drive was changing the chip in the DVD drive then flashing it.

milliemonster

Yes he does, I know hubby has had a look at the net and says he's willing to have a go at a repair, I know some of the games are already installed but he is almost at the limit which is why we were going to upgrade it, looking at some of the offers (seen a Zavvi one for 250gb console plus Halo 4 which he wants, forza 4, skyrim and 1 month live membership for £199) we may be better biting the bullet and getting him a new one as opposed to paying for this to be repaired, then a new hard drive and Halo 4 on top!

mavisangelica

Do you have a Grainger Games near you? I know when DS knocked over his Xbox, the box itself was fine but the game inside was scored. I took it Grainger Games and they managed to clean up the game. They might also do box repairs?

alfie476

Hi, do not move (transport) the Xbox with a disc in. The disc will fall out of line in the tray and when turned on will be picked up off centre causing the disc to scratch when rotating. Before moving the Xbox remove disc. You can repair scratched discs with braso and cloth in circular motion until the scratch is reduced or removed.