Unoffical Upgrade your PS3 HDD thread

Has anyone removed the OEM HDD from a laptop and swapped it into a PS3? I have a laptop that's not useful, for reasons unrelated to its hard drive. I don't see why that wouldn't work, but thought I'd see if anybody'd tried it.

EDIT: Never mind, my old laptop's HDD is only 40GB. No help there.
 
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[quote name='pob14']EDIT: Never mind, my old laptop's HDD is only 40GB. No help there.[/QUOTE]

You might consider stopping by your local electronics retailer, and picking up an external notebook hard drive enclosure. This would allow you to use any notebook hard drive that you have extra as a portable USB hard drive. They usually only cost between $10 -$20 dollars, and you can switch the HDD in them later if you get your hands on a larger one. Having a 40 GB USB hard drive would be nice.
 
I just upgraded my original 60gb HDD to a 500gb WD Scorpio Blue HDD, and... the drive's capacity is 455 which is normal, but:

I went from 22/55gb free to 386/455gb free. I'm wondering why the PS3 is hogging so much more space on my new drive. Anyone have experience with this? Does it result in more caching and better performance or...?
 
Hi,
I am planning on upgrading my PS3 but was wondering how it would affect my groupshared games and traded games? Will they just be included in the backup file I create?
 
I also upgrade to the Western Digital Scorpio blue 500GB HDD. Which got a good review from CPU magazine and absolutely love it. Great buy you can pick it up for under a $100
 
[quote name='saiftk']Hi,
I am planning on upgrading my PS3 but was wondering how it would affect my groupshared games and traded games? Will they just be included in the backup file I create?[/QUOTE]

Yes. The backup utility will more or less create a replica of what's on your drive which will then be restored on your new one.
 
[quote name='StrandedBrit']Yes. The backup utility will more or less create a replica of what's on your drive which will then be restored on your new one.[/QUOTE]

...except for your trophies, I think. Be sure to sync those with the PSN server before swapping out your drive.
 
[quote name='StrandedBrit']Yes. The backup utility will more or less create a replica of what's on your drive which will then be restored on your new one.[/QUOTE]

...except for your trophies, I think. Be sure to sync those with the PSN server before swapping out your drive.
 
need help.

i have a maxed out 60 gb to backup onto an external 150 gb hd (100 gb free). i unsuccessfully tried to used fat32 and swissknife to make a 60+ gb partition on the external using my vista64 machine. fat32 doesn't load up. swissknife loads up on my machine but when i click on the external hd it crashes. i tried to EASE US but free version is for vista32 and lower.

so i tried to partition the hdd using the vista disk management software. but i would get a 70 gb partition formatted in ntfs. i googled ways of converting ntfs to fat32 and there doesnt seem to be any easy answers. and i read that fat32 doesnt go beyond 32 gbs.

am i approaching this wrong? to backup up the 60 gb ps3 drive, do i need at least a 60 gb partition? and anyone recommend any other programs or methods?

thanks
 
[quote name='bmachine']...except for your trophies, I think. Be sure to sync those with the PSN server before swapping out your drive.[/QUOTE]

Yes. True dat. But if you click on your name on the friends list after you restore it'll bring em all back.
 
looking to finally upgrade my 60gb launch ps3 to 500gb. i've already looked here http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/backuputility.html but does anyone know if the back up feature backs up everything on your current hard drive (photos, movies, purchased games and demos, game installations, game data updates and saves, ps2 game saves)?

i guess my concern is that i don't want to redownload any purchased games or reinstall the games i have on my system already.

thanks!!!
 
Yes, it backs everything to your external HD. Make sure you formatted your External HD to FAT32 before you start. Takes a few hours pending how much you have.. It took mine about 2 hrs for 40 GB of data.
 
[quote name='tpp0230']Yes, it backs everything to your external HD. Make sure you formatted your External HD to FAT32 before you start. Takes a few hours pending how much you have.. It took mine about 2 hrs for 40 GB of data.[/QUOTE]

thanks tpp0230... i only have 365MB left from my 60GB
 
for future reference, if you have a 60 gb, you only need to back it up on a 40 gb hard drive (my maxed out 60 gb was backed up onto a 31 gb space).
 
[quote name='lolwut?']Just wondering if anyone has ever used Hitachi HD's. Newegg sent me an e-mail about a 15% off HD sale they are having, and I'm thinking about finally updating my 60GB to something bigger, and netting myself 2 external HD's in the process. This is the one I'm looking at:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145227[/QUOTE]

I've used a Hitachi desktop drive in my main PC for about 18 months with problems to speak of. I personally prefer Western Digital because I know their warranty service is good, though since I've not had the occasion to use Hitachi's warranty, I suppose that speaks for itself. ;)
 
I'm going to get the Slim. Is there a certain HD requirement now that the system is smaller and stuff? What HD should I go for if I'm getting the Slim?

When transferring data from a PS3 to a new PS3, the only thing that really gets transferred over is save data right? What about PSN accounts/Trophies? Is there any way to transfer locked saves, or am I screwed?
 
I skimmed through some posts but got one question before i do the backup. You only need to make the partition as big as the amount of stuff i have on the PS3 HD right now correct?
 
[quote name='DeathMoJo']I skimmed through some posts but got one question before i do the backup. You only need to make the partition as big as the amount of stuff i have on the PS3 HD right now correct?[/QUOTE]

For safety's sake, I would. When I backed up my nearly-full 80GB HDD it only took up about 35GB of space on the external drive, though.

Clearly not everything on the PS3 needs to be backed up externally.
 
[quote name='DeathMoJo']I skimmed through some posts but got one question before i do the backup. You only need to make the partition as big as the amount of stuff i have on the PS3 HD right now correct?[/QUOTE]

from the post four before yours,

"for future reference, if you have a 60 gb, you only need to back it up on a 40 gb hard drive (my maxed out 60 gb was backed up onto a 31 gb space)."

so my 60 gb translated into a 31. and bmachine's 80 translated in 35. so its well below the amount you have on the original.
 
[quote name='enufs8d']from the post four before yours,

"for future reference, if you have a 60 gb, you only need to back it up on a 40 gb hard drive (my maxed out 60 gb was backed up onto a 31 gb space)."

so my 60 gb translated into a 31. and bmachine's 80 translated in 35. so its well below the amount you have on the original.[/QUOTE]

Thank you, i saw that but was noted on the 80gb. hehe. Plan to hopefully do this in the next week.
 
okay so im trying to upgrade my 60gb harddrive.

I have a 120gb 2.5 hdd and it fits and reads it.

i have an external 250gb harddrive that plugs and is formatted to FAT32.

when i try to back up the 60gb onto the 250gb it says

"This usb device cannot be accessed"

and once i got the error on backup

what the heck am i doing wrong?

i tried to format the 250gb external again and no luck.

the ps3 intially reads the drive, sees the Maxtor One Touch 3.
 
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can you read files off your external from ps3? i copied over some bleach onto 120 external. later i found out that i put them in the ntfs side. so my ps3 couldnt read.
 
Just one of those things. Some work and some don't. Out of the five devices I tried on the ps3 3 worked and two didn't. I have no idea why. All had the same filesystem.
 
now since i formatted the HD to Fat32, my PC doesnt recognize it at all.

the usb does and the drivers load up, but when i go to My Computer it doesnt show up.

it shows up just fine on the ps3
 
how did you format to fat32 via maxtor software?

so now your computer cant read your external. but can you back it up?
 
I will soon need to take the HDD out of my 160GB PS3 (Uncharted bundle unit I acquired Dec 2008--no PS2 BC) and put it in a launch unit (Nov 2006--hardware-based PS2 BC), swapping out the 60GB HDD from the launch unit. With me so far?

The 160GB drive has all my games, saves, vids, etc., while the 60GB drive in the launch unit is fresh, nothing on it.

Will this work in a plug-n-play fashion, or are there gotchas I need to be aware of? I assume I'll have to deactivate my PSN account on the old one and reactivate it on the new one, but is there anything else I'll have to do?

Sorry if this has already been explained (I don't have time to read the whole thread). If so, a link to the explanation is all I need.
 
Anyone transfer files from a FAT to a SLIM? Just curious how that would work. I have multiple gameshares, so I think I would lose access to those. How does one go about deactivating with a GameShare? Just curious as I was thinking about getting a slim eventually.
 
[quote name='doubledown']Anyone transfer files from a FAT to a SLIM? Just curious how that would work. I have multiple gameshares, so I think I would lose access to those. How does one go about deactivating with a GameShare? Just curious as I was thinking about getting a slim eventually.[/QUOTE]

I believe that you will lose your gameshares, unless they are currently activated in only 4 PS3's (which is doubtful).
I'm pretty sure the reason Sony gives us 5 licenses is so we can switch PS3's once one breaks or slim versions come out; once you gameshare, you lose this advantage.

Again: I HAVEN'T TRIED, SO I MIGHT BE WRONG; but I've never seen a way to "deactivate a gameshare" from a PS3 unit. If I was Sony, I would do as I belive Sony did: record the PS3's serial number in Sony's servers so that PS3 is stuck with the license forever.

Anyway, why would you wanna switch to the slim version? There are no advantages except for the size. Would you really PAY just to shrink your PS3 by like 10% (maybe less, it really doesnt seem much smaller to me)?
There are disadvantages if your PS3 can play PS2 games, cos the slims don't.
 
so i just upgraded my launch 60gb with a 320gb hdd....I may have been a little hasty with things, so I've got a couple questions... -_-

after doing my system backup onto an external and swapping drives, I went to do the Restore, but I chose the "Restore PS3 system" option instead of the "Restore" option under the backup utility (I even saw it while backing up but it didn't hit me to use that option instead -_-). It tells me if I've downloaded from the PSN to deactivate my system, so I did for Games. Ok. I do the restore and I realize that it just restored my system to default so I had to create my login and set the time and date again. After wallowing in my stupidity for a couple minutes, I decided to skip the rest of the setup and just do the backup restore from my external. Will this restore all the user logins that were on my system as well as all my original settings?

My second question is, if (hopefully) everything will be restored back to the way it was including all the user logins I had, it won't affect any of the software I've downloaded from the PSN or ones that my friends have shared with me as long as my system has been deactivated will it? After deactivation, I'd have to manually reactivate the system, right? Or would it have automatically reactivated it upon restoring the system back to default?
 
[quote name='fizzywix']fat32format and SwissKnife are both programs that can partition or format a drive to fat32. google either one[/QUOTE]

So Swissknife does not work in XP. And Fat32 is a format tool.

I want to create a partition on my 1TB external drive of maybe 100gb in fat32... I cant do that with swissknife apparently..

Anyone else know of a program I can download for free that will allow a partition on an external drive without reformating that drive. I have 200 GB of stuff on the external I dont want to lose... I do want to create a partition on it though... and then format that partion in fat32 so I can backup my PS3....
 
Once you deactivate your system and activate the new one + the account info you should be able to resume your GS accounts.
 
[quote name='CucoGordo']I'm new at all this so I'm asking, would this work for my PS3?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136459

Also just like Greyzieoriental, I'm looking for any deals on hard drives for PS3.

Ok like an idiot I forgot I read someone who bought said it worked for them.[/QUOTE]

That would work but your hitting that threshold for price..

I just grabbed this one from amazon for half the price and only a bit smaller at 400gb...

the 500gb is not much more than mine, but the 640 you mentioned is double!


http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digit...7?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1257174256&sr=8-7
 
It's been more then a year since I upgraded my 60GB PS3 to this 500GB drive . I originally purchased this drive for $219 from MWAVE. It's currently selling for $81.90. I still have 320GB more or less available. If you're attempting to remove the original drive use cloth over the phillips head to avoid stripping the screws
 
[quote name='denze']It's been more then a year since I upgraded my 60GB PS3 to this 500GB drive[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the suggestion. Same HDD at newegg.com for $88+free shipping.
Which is the same for me with shipping from you link.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152168

Seems a bit too much $$$ for me, not even sure I'll need that much space either.
My 120GB 360 still has 22GB on it after a year, and thats with like 10 games installed, whole bunch of XBLA games, DLC, and demos.
But with the PS3 it seems more necessary since most the games I've played require an install.
 
[quote name='doubledown']Anyone transfer files from a FAT to a SLIM? Just curious how that would work. I have multiple gameshares, so I think I would lose access to those. How does one go about deactivating with a GameShare? Just curious as I was thinking about getting a slim eventually.[/QUOTE]


As js1 mentioned, you need to deactivate all your content on the old system. Once you specifically deactivate all your content (really just the shared stuff), you should be able to activate it once more with your new unit. If you do not deactivate it, you will simply lose access.
 
I sold my fat PS3 last March or so, and just bought the new Slim. Everything so far is good, except:

My download history only shows the demos I've downloaded. All of the games I've purchased are gone. Any ideas?

EDIT: Nevermind, I figured it out. I had switched email accounts shortly after initially getting the PS3 in 2006. I completely forgot about doing that.
 
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I browsed some of the more recent pages here looking for an answer but didn't see anything so thanks in advance if you can help me out...

Anyhow, do I need to do anything to the new HDD before I stick it in the PS3 or will the PS3 just format it and do its thing without me needing to help?
 
If I was to buy a 20GB PS3, would I be able to upgrade the HDD and still have BC ability for PS1/2 games?
 
[quote name='dabamus']If I was to buy a 20GB PS3, would I be able to upgrade the HDD and still have BC ability for PS1/2 games?[/QUOTE]

Yes. As of like 5 days ago, I now have a former 20gb PS3 with a 320gb hard drive. It still does everything it used to.
 
Ok, good, thanks!

Now to hope the guy on Craigslist still hasn't sold his, and still wants only $175 for it. :p
 
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