Keeping your Xbox 360 from scratching discs

The Xbox 360 is a great system, except it has a few flaws. One of them is that it is very easy to ruin your games if you accidentally hit the console. This mod will allow you to be playing a game while running around with your 360 if you really wanted to.

Step 1 Gathering what you need

For this mod you have to open your system and your DVD drive. To open up your system you need a torx 10 screw driver and some pliers. I will not cover this step, as I never had to do it. My xbox 360 was in terrible condition and the case was already destroyed. So I never had to go through the tedious task of open it. To do that I recommend watching this video.

Some people have trouble getting the video to load, so click here if you're having trouble.

But if you already have your xbox open the only thing you need is a regular Philips screw driver, super glue, and some foam. The type of foam doesn't really matter more of the size. I can't really specify the exact size of foam you would need for this as it was mostly trial and error for me. So get some foam that is about half an inch thick so you can cut it down to perfect size. If you are going to be buying foam for this project I recommend buying 8x11 craft foam. The first time I did this I used to Styrofoam and it worked fine, but it didn't stay to together as well. The 2nd time with the craft foam it worked perfectly.

By the way I originally got this idea from llama's 360 adventures. Except they don't really tell you anything and just try to sell stuff.

Comments

[2hot2hack]

need xbox games 4 free msg me if you know how

[LiaLinda]

Or leave the xbox machine alone (preserving the warranty) and buy some dskins, a thin plastic circle you pop onto your disk and leave on while you play the game. 

I asked the manufacturer (http://www.dskin.com) where I can buy them, but they pointed me to a link where they were really expensive (they're made in Europe).

I've seen them the dskins at walmart, but bought them even cheaper a year or so ago by doing a search on google (I forget the site I bought them from - tech geeks, I think). 

You could ask your gaming store to order them.

But really, don't open the box and fart around... it would break your heart if you killed it.

[HeWantsRevenge]

awesome instructable, especially useful while ones changing a faulty disk drive. mite as well upgrade anyway. cheers...or you can preserve the warranty and wait the 4-6 weeks ona repair to play scratched disks xp

[yonsje]

Where would you place the foam pad in a Liteon drive?

[CowGuy]

Same spots for every drive.

[punkatsub]

okay, listen all you have to do is not to move the fudging thing, the CD drive doesn't hold the CD probably

[schithen]

Mine was just sitting still and started eating my disk.

[punkatsub]

i don't care, anyway i believe that yours would be a older verison, the newer verisons don't break so much

[schithen]

Nope its a new elite.

[albylovesscience]

i wish i would of listend to you me and my cusins were playing around and his sister poped in and threw her flip flop at me she missed and sniped the side of the xbox 360 ehan a game was inside all we heard was skihhhhhhhh rhhh we opend it up there was a 60$ game scratched to the abyssal plane of no use

[CowGuy]

The whole point is if you do hit it, it saves your game. It happens. Also if you want a carbox 360 you can run into troubles when you hit bumps.

[on a path to instruction]

lol I just own a carbox that tank doesn't mess up even if you kick it the 360 stays at home.

[TheGasMaskGuy]

Punkatsub is right... It shouldn't even be in a spot where there is potential of bumping it... you want it in a spot that is out of harms way... I wouldn't leave it sitting up right in the middle of the living room in a house with a bunch of dogs and little kids...

[CowGuy]

Accidents do happen, My Xbox was in a spot where it was perfectly safe. Someone is moving stuff comes a long moves my Xbox and doesn't realize what they have just done to my precious Dead Rising. It's a good precaution to take. Think of it as insurance for your games just in case. I've had my games get ruined twice from something similar as I stated above.

[punkatsub]

anyway some xbox 360's like mine do not have foam on or near the cd/dvd drive so how i am going to do that anyway>>>?

[CowGuy]

The whole point of this instructable, is how you put the foam in your dvd drive.... Go out to a craft store and buy some.

[punkatsub]

meh, too lazy

[gruntking741]

lol

[dodo91]

A CAITION FOR ALL WITH AN XBOX: DO NOT USE DISC CLEANERS ON YOUR DISC! IT WILL RUIN THE GAME, AND YOUR CONSOLE! i did this once, and it broke the disk. the disk wouldnt work ever again. it also made my xbox extremly slow, laggy, and eventually we had to get a repair.

[srhadaham]

I've used disc cleaners on several of my games and have never had any problems. My best guess would be that the brand of cleaner you used wasn't good. But to just generally state not to use cleaners isn't very good advice.

[dodo91]

what I do is boil the disk instead. it works better and keeps it from getting extreme scratches if done every so often. also I found that if you leave an xbox on carpet, it will break (get slow and very laggy).

[yonsje]

Thanks! But, if you only remove the 4 screws from those "tabs" on the sides then the bottom won't come off accidentally

[Black Cat]

wanna no an easier way? lay it down so i wont let the disc slip!!! magic!!!

[Fluffyjimmy]

I've had my Xbox laying down, but the power supply fell on it barely scratching my halo 3 disc. Unfortunately it happened to scratch it right in the boot sector of the disc. I've also had a friend walk past and bump into my xbox while i was playing and it made a horrible grinding noise. So this instructable is perfect for me.

[dodo91]

my 360 (should be called 1 for crap) is crap. ive gotten the red ring of death 5 times now. everytime i took it in after it happend. i think the people who fixed it did a horrible job.

[CowGuy]

The point of this mod was so you could move it, not keep it laying down. This would be great for an xbox 360 car mod.

[ironsmiter]

nicely done...(though the video link is wacky for me... stuck at 78% loaded) perhaps add a clickable link to the recommended video? I'd never thought of padding from the TOP, to reduce scratches on the BOTTOM! very, very clever. I might recommend using felt pads instead of foam. I can easily source thin felt pads. They come with adhesive already on one side, for use on the legs of chairs, for hardwood floor protection. about $2USD a pack. In step three "want to tape them to your DVD" do you mean using doublesided tape? or cellotape right over the pad? Probably won't make a difference, as long as it holds. Just curious, as no tape is visible in the second image.

[CowGuy]

For the pads I taped them on the under side, by using some duct tape. Double sided or taping it over the actual pads will work too. Those thin felt pads would probably be a better idea to use, but I used what I had on hand. I'll also add a direct link to the video.