How to Tell Versions of XBox
By Marie Lowe
There are eight versions of the original Microsoft Xbox console, each of which have different power supplies and USB capabilities. Due to the uniform plastic casing surrounding the Xbox, the difference between versions is not available from a simple glance, and opening the system's casing to make the judgment based on the type of hardware installed will void your system's warranty and risks permanent device damage. Fortunately, you can safely determine your Xbox version without opening the console by analyzing the system's serial number.
Step 1
Turn the Xbox over and locate the sticker that says "Serial Number." It will have other information as well, such as the manufacturing date and product ID.
Step 2
Write down or remember the last two numbers of the "Serial Number" line. This is the factory code. Microsoft has used different production facilities for different models of the Xbox, and determining the factory will help you to determine what version of Xbox you have. If the final two digits are "03," this is the product code for the original manufacturing center that produced only version 1.0 systems. If they read "02" and the "Manufacturing Date" label is listed as 2002 or earlier, you have a version 1.1 Xbox. If the code is "02" and it was manufactured in 2003 or later, the Xbox is a version 1.2 system. If the code reads "06" the system is version 1.3.
Step 3
Locate the set of numbers after the serial number. This number set consists of seven digits, followed by a space, and then five more digits. The first digit is the year within the first decade of 2000, such as "5" meaning "2005." The two digits following this are the week of the year that the system was produced, therefore "533" means the system was manufactured in the 33rd week of 2005.
Step 4
Visit the Xbox manufacturing list (See Resources) to compare the year and week of your system's production to the version chart. This will conclusively tell you which version of the Xbox console you are running.
Writer Bio
Marie Lowe has been writing since 1995. Her work appears in the "Durant Democrat" and various online publications. Lowe has a Master of Arts in journalism from the University of Central Oklahoma.