Does the microsoft dashboard (the screen that loads when no game is present) load when no games are in the DVD drive? You were unclear whether the Xbox will not boot at all, or if it only does it in games. If the dashboard loads properly without games it is likely a cache problem, which can be an easy fix. Back up any gamesaves you want to save to a memory card, then delete ALL your gamesaves and stored music data from the Xbox hard drive. Wipe everything it will let you and reboot the box. There is a good chance this will fix your drive if it has never been modded or tinkered with. If that does not work, or you cannot boot the msdash, then your only option is to chip your box or perform a hotswap on your hard drive (not complicated, but can be very tricky as timing is crucial) and replace the corrupted files.
You can hotswap your drive and fix the files without modding your Xbox though. Use a program called Xplorer360 (Google it) and investigate the contents of your C drive and compare to a complete C drive from somewhere else. (Google again) You can copy or replace files as necessary and then reinstall the hard drive with a complete dashboard.
However, if you screw this up without modding it first, you could brick your box unless you want to build an eeprom reader, in which case you may as well do the softmod as it is really less work.
Good luck!
p.s.: I agree with steimy, you really should consider modding your box. Even if you don't want to use it for downloaded games, the value as a media center PC is awesome. I have four modded boxes networked throughout my house, all with games, movies and music ready at the touch of a button! It may even delay the unnecessary purchase of one of those shoddy 3rd gen systems (except the Wii, it rocks!)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 1. June 2007 @ 13:10
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