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Well, as I've upgraded my PS3 hard drive today, I though I might help out others and make a guide on how to do it if you haven't done so already. Now, a few notes before I start.
Replacing the hard drive will NOT void the warranty, in fact I believe Sony encourages replacing the drive.
YOU WILL need to backup your PS3 data onto an external HDD, which takes a while, but it will save the following:
* Game Data (Such as installs, DLC and even full games from the store)
* Photos
* Music
* Video
* Game Saves
* User Settings (Including Playstation 3 themes)
User information such as CC details, email, passwords, friends list, etc and such will stay saved to the system regardless of if you replace the hard drive.
The one minor pain in the ass is that you have to resynch your trophies after the new HDD is formatted and the data from the backup is restored. In my case, I had to go onto EVERY PS3 game that had trophies on them in order to resynch the data, however It was probably my fault to begin with as I foolishly cancelled the resynch of the data the first time so I had to resych individually. Luckily I keep every game I get.
What you will need:
External and Internal Hard drives of preferably equal size (In my case, 500 gb external and internal HDDs). The internal Drive MUST be 2.5" and 5200rpm. The External Drive MUST be formatted in FAT32.
Screwdrivers (Philips Head ones, preferably one which can grip the screws well.) I used screwdrivers that were magnetic to make sure it held on to the screws as they are INCREDIBLY TIGHTLY SCREWED IN.
Some strong hands.
Ok, on with the instructions (Pics coming later, will need to be text for now unfortunately).
First and foremost, plug the external Hard drive into your ps3 and go to utility settings, scroll down to backup system and select backup, simple so far no? ^^
Depending on how much data you have on your hard drive, it could take a short time to a long time. My 40gb PS3 had about 6gb of free data left on it and that took around 50 minutes to back up.
After the backup is complete, unplug the HDD and check it on your PC! You should now have a folder called PS3 with several disc icons in it. If any of them say they are temp files, delete the folder and try again. This'll only happen if some douchebag messes with the power cables outside your house while you spend forever backing it up.
Next, switch off all power to your PS3 and have some screwdrivers and steady hands ready, this is where it gets tough.
On the bottom stand of your PS3 (If you stand it vertically) there should be a detachable port that says Hard Drive on it, pry this open with something like a flat headed screwdriver or some really tough fingernails (lol). Inside you should see three screws, 2 should look normal, while one is blue.
The first task to getting the sucker out of there is unscrewing that blue screw, be warned, IT IS FREAKING TOUGH TO GET OUT! Make sure you are extra careful with it otherwise you will never get it out. EVER. When you, eventually, get that screw out, place it somewhere safe. Above where that screw once was there should be some sort of handle, pull that up and slide the hard drive to the right and pull it out. Congrats, your half way there.
Next, remember those two normal looking screws I mentioned earlier? You need to unscrew them next as well as the two screws on the other side. When all four are unscrewed, slide out the old hard drive and replace it with the new one in the exact same position that the old one was. When you are sure everything is in the right place, place the 4 normal screws back in place and make sure they aren't loose.
Re-insert the Hard drive back the way you took it out and fix that blue screw back in and again, make sure it isn't loose. Place the cover back on and there you go, new hard drive.
Plug your PS3 back in and switch it on, upon startup it will detect that a new hard drive is in and it needs to be formatted, do so when prompted. Your PS3 should restart and you will be logged into the network. When everything is started up, plug the external HDD back into the PS3 and go back to utility settings and select back and restore, you will need to select which media device is needed for this so it'll indicate the HDD as it should. Then select the file that the backup was put inside.
The restoration of the data begins as the PS3 restarts and will roughly take the same amount of time as backing up did. When that is finished, the PS3 will restart and everything you had on your old HDD will be on your new one. Congrats, you've now upgraded your hard drive go and download anything you want to your heart's content ^^
That wasn't so hard now was it =)
If you have any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer... also please sticky this mods!
Useful links:
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6176090/index.html <--- Has Images
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/248784.html <--- Video
Replacing the hard drive will NOT void the warranty, in fact I believe Sony encourages replacing the drive.
YOU WILL need to backup your PS3 data onto an external HDD, which takes a while, but it will save the following:
* Game Data (Such as installs, DLC and even full games from the store)
* Photos
* Music
* Video
* Game Saves
* User Settings (Including Playstation 3 themes)
User information such as CC details, email, passwords, friends list, etc and such will stay saved to the system regardless of if you replace the hard drive.
The one minor pain in the ass is that you have to resynch your trophies after the new HDD is formatted and the data from the backup is restored. In my case, I had to go onto EVERY PS3 game that had trophies on them in order to resynch the data, however It was probably my fault to begin with as I foolishly cancelled the resynch of the data the first time so I had to resych individually. Luckily I keep every game I get.
What you will need:
External and Internal Hard drives of preferably equal size (In my case, 500 gb external and internal HDDs). The internal Drive MUST be 2.5" and 5200rpm. The External Drive MUST be formatted in FAT32.
Screwdrivers (Philips Head ones, preferably one which can grip the screws well.) I used screwdrivers that were magnetic to make sure it held on to the screws as they are INCREDIBLY TIGHTLY SCREWED IN.
Some strong hands.
Ok, on with the instructions (Pics coming later, will need to be text for now unfortunately).
First and foremost, plug the external Hard drive into your ps3 and go to utility settings, scroll down to backup system and select backup, simple so far no? ^^
Depending on how much data you have on your hard drive, it could take a short time to a long time. My 40gb PS3 had about 6gb of free data left on it and that took around 50 minutes to back up.
After the backup is complete, unplug the HDD and check it on your PC! You should now have a folder called PS3 with several disc icons in it. If any of them say they are temp files, delete the folder and try again. This'll only happen if some douchebag messes with the power cables outside your house while you spend forever backing it up.
Next, switch off all power to your PS3 and have some screwdrivers and steady hands ready, this is where it gets tough.
On the bottom stand of your PS3 (If you stand it vertically) there should be a detachable port that says Hard Drive on it, pry this open with something like a flat headed screwdriver or some really tough fingernails (lol). Inside you should see three screws, 2 should look normal, while one is blue.
The first task to getting the sucker out of there is unscrewing that blue screw, be warned, IT IS FREAKING TOUGH TO GET OUT! Make sure you are extra careful with it otherwise you will never get it out. EVER. When you, eventually, get that screw out, place it somewhere safe. Above where that screw once was there should be some sort of handle, pull that up and slide the hard drive to the right and pull it out. Congrats, your half way there.
Next, remember those two normal looking screws I mentioned earlier? You need to unscrew them next as well as the two screws on the other side. When all four are unscrewed, slide out the old hard drive and replace it with the new one in the exact same position that the old one was. When you are sure everything is in the right place, place the 4 normal screws back in place and make sure they aren't loose.
Re-insert the Hard drive back the way you took it out and fix that blue screw back in and again, make sure it isn't loose. Place the cover back on and there you go, new hard drive.
Plug your PS3 back in and switch it on, upon startup it will detect that a new hard drive is in and it needs to be formatted, do so when prompted. Your PS3 should restart and you will be logged into the network. When everything is started up, plug the external HDD back into the PS3 and go back to utility settings and select back and restore, you will need to select which media device is needed for this so it'll indicate the HDD as it should. Then select the file that the backup was put inside.
The restoration of the data begins as the PS3 restarts and will roughly take the same amount of time as backing up did. When that is finished, the PS3 will restart and everything you had on your old HDD will be on your new one. Congrats, you've now upgraded your hard drive go and download anything you want to your heart's content ^^
That wasn't so hard now was it =)
If you have any questions, just ask and I'll do my best to answer... also please sticky this mods!
Useful links:
http://uk.gamespot.com/features/6176090/index.html <--- Has Images
http://www.gametrailers.com/player/usermovies/248784.html <--- Video
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