Is my 360 dead or dying? (E74)

Well, earlier today I was playing some Dead Rising, when the colors on screen started messing up, so I restarted the console, and I got the E74 disc read error. I'm letting my 360 cool down for the day, but is it dead? do i have hope of it working again?

Dead. Sorry, friend.

It might be done, it might not be done. I say this because I have had my 360 get the E74 at least 5 times since I had it repaired back in December. I don't let it cool down, though, I just restart it and it is fine.

E74 doesn't necessarily mean your system is overheating. That would be indicated by the three red lights. From your situation, it sounds like you may have a disc drive problem. Which is possible (sorry). Depending on where you are on your warranty, if it persists, it will or will not be covered by Microsoft. If you are past the 1 year threshold for the regular warranty, only the three red lights are covered for another two years unfortunately. :( But there isn't a lot known about the E74 error really and as joystiq xbox explains "its often defined as a general hardware failure."

Here is a link to a Ask Joystiq Xbox post that has some more information regarding E74. Its the second question down.
http://xbox.joystiq.com/2009/02/10/ask-joystiq-xbox-orbital-drop-sticker-shock-edition/

Sorry that this news isn't very good, and perhaps your 360 will go back to working properly all on its own! But give it a try, see what it does so you can get some more information and go from there.

Hope this helps, and I am sorry! 360 Problems are never fun! :)

Yeah i had that same error code, I had to send it away. Luckly its was barley still under warranty.
Sorry dude (plays Taps)

DEAD...

Sometimes the E74 will lead to your console not playing again, and sometimes it will be just fine after a few minutes of being turned off.  It's kind of an up-in-the-air scenario.

Am I just the "lucky" one with several E74s, and it continues to run flawlessly?