Tips for those who just bought an Xbox One
If you’ve just purchased a new Xbox One, check out the most important tips here for you to boot your console safely, and get much more out of it.
When you turn on your Xbox One for the first time, you’ll go through some initial setup steps like selecting your language, setting up a Wi-Fi connection, and creating a new Xbox Live account (or signing in with an existing account). Just follow the onscreen instructions after turning it on and plugging it in.
Important! – When you first use an Xbox One, you MUST connect to the Internet, either via an ethernet cable or via Wi-Fi, to update the system. You cannot use the system until you have downloaded these updates. You don’t need to keep it logged in afterwards, but you do need to log in at least once to update it.
Be patient! It is also important to remember to be patient during the initial boot and upgrade process. It may seem like nothing is happening or you are not making progress, but be patient. Thinking something is wrong and trying to restart it can cause problems if the update is interrupted midway. Be patient.
In the unlikely event that something goes wrong (like you see a black screen or Xbox One green screen for more than 10 minutes), you could really have a problem. Microsoft has update troubleshooting help for this on their website.
Only a small fraction of a percentage of systems have a problem during the initial setup, however, just like we said, be patient as your system should update successfully.
Tips for those who just bought an Xbox One
Run system setup and updates before gifting Xbox OneNo one wants to sit around for an hour after opening their new Xbox One while it updates, so it’s a good idea to go through the initial setup and update process before handing over the gift, and then put it back in the box. That way, your kids (or anyone who receives the gift) can call and start playing right away.
Games may take a long time to install
All games, including physical media games, must be installed on your Xbox One hard drive, and sometimes this can take a long time (usually because you need to install a game update at the same time).
As with the tip above, it’s probably a good idea to pre-install games ahead of time before gifting to kids and even adults so they can turn on the console and start playing without having to wait.
Keep your Xbox One ventilated
It’s not enough to stick it on a shelf, in a closed space. Your new console needs room to breathe and ventilate. So your Xbox One will do a much better job. Also, be sure to place the power cord source (which plugs into an outlet) somewhere that has ventilation as well, and don’t place it on the floor on top of the carpet (carpet fibers can block the vents and cause overheating) .
Do not stack games on top of each other, and do not place items such as boxes on top of the console. This blocks ventilation and also reflects heat back into the system. Take care of your console and it will last much longer.
Most issues can be fixed with a system reboot
Let’s say the dashboard is choppy and slow, or a game won’t load, or Xbox Live is acting weird, or a host of other issues.
The best way to resolve this is to press and hold the power button on the front of the console for several seconds, until it turns off. This completely shuts down the system instead of putting it into sleep mode and completely resets the hardware . Similar to resetting a computer, this procedure fixes many problems.
Don’t put a credit card in your system
It’s much harder for bad guys to get your information if you enter your credit card information into the system. There won’t be anything for someone to steal if it’s not in your account, right?
It’s best to use Xbox gift cards purchased from physical stores or digital codes from online retailers. They come in a wide range of denominations, so you can get exactly the value you want. Another safe option is to put a PayPal account on your system. This way, you get multiple layers of PayPal security.
You only need an Xbox Live Gold account
On 360, you needed separate subscriptions for each account. On Xbox One, an Xbox Live Gold membership covers everyone using that system, so everyone can have separate accounts with their own achievements, and can play online, but you don’t have to buy all your own replacements.
You will probably need an external hard drive
The Xbox One’s internal hard drive isn’t small, but games are definitely huge and will fill up the 500GB drive quickly. Depending on how many games you plan on buying, you might not run out of space, but if you plan to use your Xbox One to play a lot of games, you’re going to need an external drive eventually.
Snap Mode
Using the Snap feature, you can snap apps and certain games (eg Threes!) to the side of the screen while you’re playing games, watching TV, or doing anything else on the main part of the screen.
You can easily control the captured apps, or choose what you want to dock, by double tapping the Xbox Guide button (the big X on the controller), which will bring up the pop-up menu.
You don’t always have to be online
Despite policies having changed over two years ago, there is still a lot of confusion about this. So let’s clarify. There is not always an online check-in. Microsoft is not watching you with Kinect. You don’t even need to use Kinect if you don’t want to. Used games work just like they always did – you can trade them in or sell them or give them to your friends. Anything you hear otherwise in these matters is false.
