Installing Games on Xbox 360

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I recently bought an Xbox 360, the final model with a 500GB HDD. After playing the first 3 episodes of Doom from the 'BFG Edition' disc, I decided to install it to the hard drive, but when I tried to play it as an installed game, a notice on the screen informed me this was not possible, and the game would need to be uninstalled to enable me to play it. The same seems to apply when trying to play Doom 2. When I had a go with Doom 3, I was able to start playing it but only if the original disc was inserted.

Does anyone know what's going on here? Why wouldn't the first two games work and what is the point of installing to the HDD (in the case of the third game) if the game disc has to be inserted anyway?

I believe that any disc installed game will still require the disc for it to run as a protection against piracy and mass spreading. Installing the game just makes it run smoother. The only way to not be forced into having a disc is downloading from the Live store.

I remember with the X360 Alien: Isolation, I installed the game and was subjected to endless jams and crashes until I uninstalled it.

Thanks for the replies. Interesting - my only experience of installing games prior to this was on a Windows 7 laptop, with three instances. One game, Half Life, plus an expansion, Opposing Force, could be played solely from the hard drive, but Unreal, as with the Xbox 360 Doom 3 example, needed to have the game disc inserted.

Not sure about the smoother running business. The Xbox 360 Doom game runs exceptionally smoothly from the original disc and it's difficult to see how this could be improved significantly.

^ It might also protect from disc scratches having the most of the game downloaded. Not sure though

All the "install to hard drive" option does is decrease loading times and reduce wear on your disc drive. I remember having to do it so I could play Black Ops on the 360 I had a long time ago. It amazes me now to think that I was actually hooked on a Call of Duty game... and especially to think that I actually paid for Xbox Live. Then again, that one time where they offered a month's worth of Live for a dollar in late 2011 was pretty awesome.

dont think you can unless its a download.

I didn't know it was even possible to install a game from a disk on the xBox 360.

^All I did was click on an 'install' button, and the Xbox simply did the rest very straightforwardly - pity the end result was of such limited value.

I remember the process of installing Half Life to my laptop was considerably more complicated, but at least I ended up with a superbly playable game that works faultlessly without needing the original disc to be reinserted.