Donate To The Empire:

*UPDATE 1/2/2009*

Matt Akers of the Zune Product Team wrote Wednesday on Zune.net that the problem should resolve itself after 7 a.m. ET Thursday. He goes on to say that users should allow the internal battery to fully drain, then recharge by connecting the Zune to a computer or AC power after noon GMT (7 a.m. ET) on New Year’s Day.

So if you still aren’t up and running, drain it, recharge it, and fire it up and your Zune should be back to life.

*/UPDATE*

You may be noticing this morning that your Microsoft Zune has frozen while starting up. This is due to an issue with the latest firmware and Microsoft should be issuing a fix sometime in the next week or so.

In the mean time you can revert to the original firmware by doing a hard reset. This will delete EVERYTHING on your Zune, so be warned.

To do a hard reset follow these steps:

1. Press and hold the back button
2. Press and hold up until it reboots
3. Depending on which Zune you have, immediately do one of the following:
   1. If you have a Zune 4 GB, Zune 8BG, or Zune 80GB, immediately press and hold the Back button Back at the same time as you press the right side of the Zune pad and the Play/Pause button. Continue to hold these buttons until the Zune device restarts and you receive the following message: “Clearing contents. Please wait.”
   2. If you have a Zune 30GB, immediately press and hold the Back button Back at the same time that you press the right side of the Zune pad and the center of the Zune pad. Continue to hold these buttons until the Zune device restarts and you receive the following message: “Clearing contents. Please wait.”

After this completes your Zune will start up again, don’t update the firmware until Microsoft releases a fixed version.

*UPDATE*

I’ve had several people tell me that this hard reset method did not work for them. If that is the case then you can try the hard reset method posted at Gizmodo. I’d love to direct link to the post over there, but I can’t FIND it, so I’ve reproduced the text as posted over here:

To do this, use a small screwdriver to pop off the plastic shielding where the zune cable plugs into and remove the two screws on either side of the plug. Next pop the cover off and locate the battery plug at the top left corner of the zune, using your screw driver, pop the cable connection half way off, and do this to the other plug on the right side. Wait 3 seconds, then push down the right connector and then the left battery connecter. Your zune should start up immediately. Press the backing of the zune down (make sure headphone jack is aligned) and put the screws and cover back in place.

Hopefully that will successfully hard reset your Zune if the previous method failed.