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evan g

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 9, 2008
100
0
How exactly do I do that? I have a 40GB PS3 and love it, it's just getting a little clogged with everything I put in it, like game demos, music, videos, etc. Can I just hook up an external drive by USB? Or do I have to take my PS3 apart? I just didn't want to break my PS3, so I asked you guys.
 
It is rather easy, just be sure to have the right size screwdriver as it is rather easy to strip the screws. I have upgraded my PS3's HD twice now. 1st time was to a 160GB drive, and most recently to a 320GB drive. It's what happens when you have 34 physical games and downloadable games, your HD becomes rather full fast.

http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=ps3media&message.id=62981

And before you ask, no it will not void your warranty.
 
Hah! What warranty? I saved up enough to buy the PS3, but I forgot about the warranty. I just plan on taking good care of it. I might look into that too pretty soon here. Thanks for the links also. You guys have been a real big help. :)

Oh by the way how much would a new hard drive cost? Just run a few by me.

And is there anyway to save data from the old one onto the new one?
 
Hah! What warranty? I saved up enough to buy the PS3, but I forgot about the warranty. I just plan on taking good care of it. I might look into that too pretty soon here. Thanks for the links also. You guys have been a real big help. :)

Oh by the way how much would a new hard drive cost? Just run a few by me.

And is there anyway to save data from the old one onto the new one?

look at newegg for HD's. As for the data, just use a external drive and do a system backup. The account data(PSN and PS3 login)/wifi data is stored in RAM not on the HD so you will not lose that when you replace the drive. A few games will not allow the save games to be copied, you have to do a backup then a restore to get them back. I have a external drive I use specifically for PS3 backups.
 
^ Ed's covered everything. It is really quite easy as long as you have the tools (i.e. external drive for backup, 1 new SATA hdd and 1 philips screwdriver).

Changing the drive takes 2 minutes.

Backing up the drive and restoring on the new drive can take up to 2.5 hours depending on how full your drive is.
 
External drive meaning plugged in by USB? I have plenty of those.
 
I didn't know about that. Can't I just copy it onto the external drive, hook up a new HD, and copy that stuff back on?
 
I didn't know about that. Can't I just copy it onto the external drive, hook up a new HD, and copy that stuff back on?

Just format it using FAT32, then go to system setttings and backup utility, backup to the drive. Replace the HD, go back in to the backup utility and restore from the external drive you backed up on previously.

You don't need to worry about the directory structure, you are doing a backup not manually coping things one at a time. This is the only way to ensure you get everything as some games don't allow you to copy their data files or save game files.
 
Yeah I read about converting you drive to FAT32, but only how to do that on PC. How would I do this on a Mac?
 
Fat in Disk Utility is indeed Fat32. I had to get a memory card to Fat16 and the only (free) way of doing it was with XP on Bootcamp :p

Doesn't Fat32 have a limit though? Or is it just Windows boot drives that have to be limited?
 
I read on a PC forum that it does have a limit, but i forget what it was.
 
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