Have you ever wanted to copy an Xbox 360 game to the system’s hard drive? Well, ever since Microsoft unveiled the “new Xbox experience” during the fall of 2008, it’s been possible. Read on for step-by-step instructions.
Copying Xbox 360 games to your hard drive
- Go to the Xbox dashboard
- Select “My Xbox“
- Highlight the game window and press “Y“
- Choose “Install to Hard Drive” and hit “A“
That’s it. Once the game is installed, you can play it from the hard drive by hitting “Y” from the game window in “My Xbox” and then selecting “Play from Hard Drive. Note that the game disc still has to be inserted or you won’t be able to play. Given this limitation, what’s the point?
Well… I can think of three major advantages to installing your games on your Xbox 360 hard drive:
- Load times will be reduced, not just when launching the game, but also during major scene changes.
- There will be less wear and tear on the optical drive, as it won’t need to spin during gameplay.
- Having the game on your hard drive offers some protection against scratched discs. As long as your Xbox can mount the disc, you’ll be able to play. This is true even if there’s a scratch that would otherwise cause the game to error out during gameplay.
It only takes a few minutes per game so, assuming you have enough hard drive space, there’s no real downside.
Related articles...
- How to Delete XBox 360 Gamer Profiles
- How to Check Your NAT Setting in “Call of Duty: Black Ops” on Xbox Live
- Xbox 360 Error Code E74
- How to Remove/Upgrade the Hard Drive in Your Asus Eee PC Netbook Computer
- Watch Hulu on Your Nintendo Wii, Playstation 3, or Xbox 360
- Belkin N+ Wireless Router Not Compatible With HFS+ Hard Drives
- Call of Duty: Black Ops – Stuck While “Getting Match Quality” on Xbox Live?
- Upgrading a MacBook Hard Drive, Installing More RAM, and Restoring via TimeMachine
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
maybe i’m missing something in your instructions, or just over looking something but when I’m at the xbox dashboard and have selected my xbox ,what game window are you talking about? (the 1st one that show disc reading, or the second one that show game library) in any case i press y and nothing happens and do not get any options to save game to hard drive. right now i have the 20 gb hard drive and am thing of getting the 120 gb, but want to make sure i know how and can save my games to the hard drive before upgrading
thanks
john
i am having the same problem only I do not see a window or panel that denotes MY XBOX Is this a version problem? Or is it a what???
Help
This only relates to the updated dashboard i.e. not the one with the blades. This is updated when you Join Xbox Live.
Have to say this is an awesome tip i never would have found this on my own and it will keep the Disc Drive noise down too ;D
my xbox 360 get banned from microsoft. and all of my games cannot be install to hard drive.. can you give me solotion.. thanks…
thanks for reminding me how you do this, I’m gonna go copy one right now
Thanks man.
guys this is how when u put in the disk it should show reading… then u jus keep it till it says play game? press Y for game details then wait for install game to harddrive to show up then jus press that and put it to ur harddrive
Great Tutorial, I managed to copy over COD Black Ops to reduce disk noise and to protect this ever so expensive disk.
———
Newest Dashboard when you press (Y) you then get two options Play Game and Install Game… Installing game makes this much quieter and loads much faster.
i wanted to save nba nk11 but it has a scratch on it so it wouldnt let me finish saving it wat should i do
can you play the game with out the dis after u copy it
Definitely imagine that which you said. Your favorite justification appeared to be at the web the simplest factor to take note of. I say to you, I certainly get irked even as folks consider concerns that they just do not recognise about. You managed to hit the nail upon the highest and also outlined out the entire thing without having side effect , other people could take a signal. Will likely be back to get more. Thanks