The XBOX is not only a video game system, but can also be a DVD player with the add on DVD playback kit. In many families, the XBOX serves as the "kids" DVD player, which means that many parents choose to take advantage of the parental lock feature to limit what kinds of movies the XBOX will play back. The parental controls also lets parents set limits on what kind of game content their children are allowed to play.

There could be instances where you entered in a parental code months ago, and now can't remember it. Or, you may have purchased a used XBOX, and you never knew the code to begin with. If you or the prior owner set a parental lock code, the XBOX won't play back many movies or games without entering the code first. You could try to hunt down the original owners, or start inputting every code possible starting with 0000, but it's easier to reset the password and disable parental lock using a secret code.

Here is the procedure to

1. From the XBOX dashboard screen, go to settings and then parental control.
   
   
2. When prompted for the password, perform the following sequence using the XBOX controller: X, Y, Left Trigger, X.
   
   
3. Enter in a new password, or disable parental control entirely.
   

The level adjustment under Parental Control dictates the strictness of the player. The system will playback games and movies rated at the level of the slider and below.

A note for parents: If you're wondering what is stopping your child from using the above procedure to circumvent your rules, you can verify that they haven't reset the parental control very easily. Since the above procedure eliminates the old password entirely, all you need to do is see if your original password still works. If it does, they did not use the above procedure to break the rules. If it doesn't, they might be trying to pull the wool over your eyes.