A houseguest reports the red ring of death has happened.

I haven't been home yet to confirm that it's not just a loose AV cable, but I trust his technical savvy, and if he says three blinking lights, I believe him.

The wikipedia article doesn't mention how the exchange program handles saved games and the sizeable amount of downloadable content I've purchased. I'm afraid to search Microsoft's site on that topic.

Ideally, I'd send the Xbox back sans-hard-drive, and then plug it back in when I get the replacement, thus keeping all my saved games and downloadable content. Someone please tell me that's how it actually works.