How to Fix a Scratched Xbox 360 Game

For a gamer, perhaps his most precious possession is his stack of games and his gaming console. Xbox 360 is Microsoft's foray into the gaming market. It is one of the best seventh generation gaming consoles to have hit the market in recent times. A major headache for many Xbox 360 users has been the scratching of Xbox 360 games which renders them useless.

I cannot provide a 100% guarantee that the suggested fixes, presented here, will work. However, there is certainly no harm in trying them out. If the disc has suffered from a very few scratches and the problem is primarily caused due to dust and other deposits, the suggested fixes in the following lines may work. Otherwise, if the damage is high, you have no other option but to get a replacement DVD or use the backup disc (if created).

How to Restore a Scratched Xbox 360 Game?

Scratches created on the surface covering of your Game DVDs and dust or other remnants, make it difficult to read data off them. To fix a scratched Xbox 360 disk, first you must clean all the dust off the disk.

Get a soft piece of cloth, like the one used to wipe eyeglasses, dip it in water and gently clean the underside of the disk, radially outwards, from the center.

Clean the full circle of the disc twice using the soft cloth, until you have covered the whole area. While doing the cleaning, avoid rubbing the surface in circles and clean it in straight strokes radially outwards from the center hole. Get a glass cleaning fluid like Windex, wet the cloth with cleaning fluid, and then go around cleaning the whole circumference of the disk again.

Once you are through, use a similar dry cloth to wipe the disk clean of any moisture. If the damage was low and the problem was caused primarily due to dust, this cleaning should resolve it. Some people recommend the usage of car wax and baking soda based toothpaste to clean the disk and fix the scratches. Ensure that the disk is thoroughly dry, before you test it in the gaming console.

How to Prevent Xbox 360 Games From Scratching?

As most Xbox 360 experienced users will agree, one of the easiest ways of getting your game DVD scratched badly is to move the console around when the disc is working inside. Other than that, overuse is the single most important cause of a scratched DVD.

So, it's recommended that you follow the suggestion of not moving the console around when it's powered on and there is a disc rotating inside. Due to a design anomaly of the console, the disc is not stabilized when moving, leading to scratching. Moving the console around can be avoided but overuse is something that you can't. Hence, it is a good idea to create multiple backup DVDs or copies of your favorite games, which can replace your original ones.

It's a good idea to create copies or backups of your Xbox games DVDs in advance, which may come in handy when the original ones get scratched. Also, strictly avoid moving the console, when it's powered up and the disc is moving inside. This will save a lot of your DVDs from scratches. Store your Xbox 360 games safely somewhere and avoid sharing them with other people. Prevention is always better than cure!