Is This Hard or Dangerous in any way?

will one ps3 read another hard drive from another ps3 when they switched?

This is kindof silly, since this is also in the PS3 Handbook. Only with sketched images.

Hi thegod66, do you mean how big the hard drive can put into the PS3?

is there a limit to how big the hard drive can be?

Hi millieisadog, yes , you can save your game save data onto the usb drive.

can you manually copy game save info to a usb?

TANKS

Thank you Sony and GameSpot.

this is sweet! i'll have to do that next time i get the chance!

Bazooka401-
No, the PS3's Blu Ray is just a player, it can't write or burn anything.

Could you use a blank blu ray disk to back up the utility? Because i'm thinking about doing that.

thanx a bunch

the thing is that you don't need more space even if you download lots of things as you always end up deleting some old stuff. I think this is gonna be useful when Sony provides in the PSN Full game downloads, I mean games like MGS4 Killzone 2 that will take up some 30 gig each. If Sony does this the 500 HDD market will go huge!!

Can I transfer my PS3 data to a external Hard drive, rather than a puny USB storage device since they are only 4mb's and such?

IS THIS DRIVE FREE

Thank You!

this is very very useful thanks gamespot. =]

Thanks for the info. I've just prepurchased an 80G PS3 and now I will look into 7200rpm drives. I think 200G is enough for me. I have a PC with HD (500G) that will hold my personal data.

thanks

7500rpm doesn't exist, 7200rpm does but there are no 5400RPM 500GB let alone 500GB 7200rpm.
and there is a almost zero difference between 5400 and 7200 on the PS3.

don't forget it's 2.5" not 3.5", only 2.5" laptop s-aata drives work..

Also you can not connect a 3.5" external HD to the PS3, only an 2.5" external HD. I have no luck with the 3.5" yet.

Adam636,
I think I know what you are say now, you won't/don't have an extra external HD to back up to in the first place. No your PS3 will not do a backup onto itself, I don't think, why don't you try that. Then you can take it an put in a case before your 320gb is installed, if that can be done. I had 13gb of backup off my 20gb HD. I think you need to ask a friend to borrow an external hard drive or slowly copying all your save game on a 4GB usb HD and burned onto a PC some how. .
Also, if you want to back up onto the 320gb then place it in the PS3 and take out the old HD. Will the PS3 read the restore file on the mainhard drive is a question, but if you back up onto your 320 as an external then save it onto a PC, yes. One you make the old 20 or 60-80gb HD as an external copy, then copy it back off the PC and then plug it into the PS3 usb external.
When you buy a hard drive you never get the full value. As a rule of thumb hard drive sizes are about 5-10% less then what is stated on the box. This has been around for years. My computer listed 500GB HD only has 465 GB again the 5-10% rule. So the 320 GB is around 288 to 304GB. I think it is closer to 7% off. Then after that, the OS will install itself and that will take up more HD space.

Hi adam636, please say more clear that what is your questions are? Thanks.

also... is there a way (if i bought the 320Gb) to get the full 320Gb as storage space, i have read below about the 250Gb hard drive being only 232 when it is formatted?
i dont fully understand but if someone could help it would be great

i understand what your saying, but i mean if i use the same hard drive to back up whats on my ps3 atm as what i put into the ps3.
so i would buy a 320GB HDD, back up my ps3 onto it, then plug it into my ps3 as an internal HDD would it work as normal?

adam636 what a weird question.

With my hard-drive (HD) experience, the PS3 would need to have a HD like a computer to boot up. You can always use any HD as external with the right case. The PC will read the PS3 files, but probably can't do anything about it but copy it. When the PS3 archive onto an external HD it save an archive.dat file which only the PS3 OS can excute it. All the save games and movies are compress as an image in the dat file which window will not be able to open. It is like making an window image backup to your PC on a HD, only system restore can uncompress the files and excute it. Like vice versa the PS3's OS wouldn't know what to do with the Window restore files. I been using an external HD to move files between my PC and PS3 for a while: backup, mp3, divx, mpg4. I can share Window files, but haven't been able to share PS3 files over the network. I wouldn't open the PS3's HD all the time, which would create wear and tear.

could somebody tell me?
if i bought a 320GB hard drive (internal) to upgrade my ps3 with
then put this into a external case (temporarily), could i back up my utility onto this as an external drive then simply take it out of its case and use it as an internal hard drive?
if i havnt made myself clear just let me know
thanks

PuppetMaster786 : The links you gave a couple of posts ago for newegg are for 3.5" hard drives. You need to put a 2.5" hard drive in the PS3, so you cannont use the 750GB and 1000GB (1TB) drives. Best bang for the buck right now are the 250 GB 2.5" SATA drives, I just got one for $100 and it works like a charm.

Cheers,
Stain

@ zer0ne yes then thts right i dont need to ask wt i wanted to thx for detailss man i love ya coz i hv bought a 250 GB sata 2.5" toshiba modle:z____f353 something and the back up took backup time approx:1hr :58 min and restore the same n when i saw its space before restore its 205/233 n i said damn if it was a vista a system itself cannont take 17 gb alone hey did u quick format or full format i did quick but now at this moment i am formatting it full technique time format 16 hrs n 50 min LMAO look zer0ne lets speak this up n amybe we'll find something to help the society

http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=14&name=Internal-Hard-Drives

follow this link and look on the leftr side and pick your size hard drive they give you great deals like a western digital 500 gig for 95 bucks and not too mention that they have a 1 tb hard drive from $200-$305, the 200$ one is Western Digital Caviar GP WD10EACS 1TB 5400 to 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Thanks for the info guys haven't got my ps3 yet (waiting for a restock in gta4 packs) but hdd swap is def first move 40gb just wont be enough

GogetaSSJ7
1)No i do not think so - Sony always prided themselves on letting any 2.5" drive into the PS3
2)No not yet - the latest is 500GB which is just starting to come out now
3)i do not think so - although someone somewhere has probable found a way

Nice

Nice!!! Just three Questions
1) Is there a special SATA HDD trademark that only the PS3 recognize or you can use all Trademarks?
2) Is there any 1TB SATA 2.5" HDD?
3) Is there anyway to use more than 10GB to install Linux without leaving just petty 10GB to the PS3?

what external drive enclosure will be the best for my ps3 8o gb internal hard drive from this web page www.FrontierPC.com

Zen Tsu- The PS3 will read the full 250 or more like 232GB. The answer is yes, but do not format with the PS3 for 250GB, it took like 14 hours, I dumped a bunch of music on. When you install a new drive you really don't have to reformat or do anything.

Fat32 is like for window 98, NTS is the perfer format these days. I like newegg for hardrive selections, and frys if you want it at a store.

Hi ZenTsu, my 250Gb harddrive can only format in 32Gb on my Window XP, but I have use another software (PartitionMagic) , then I can format in full 250Gb partition.
I think it helps.bye.

Instead of using the ps3 hdd for video and audio you could setup a media server from a desktop using Twonky Media a DLNA3 compatible server, share folders right from the desktop over wireless or hardwired network.

@Wilburbud: Maybe the 32Gb limit is on the ps3 bios, as you are correct fat32 can support large partitions, but no physicial file larger than 4Gb (generally) Fat16 however can only support a partition size of 32Gb.

Can anyone confirm / deny the ps3 with new hdd can run a full 250Gb partition?

I am confused about the FAT32 32 GB limitation that the article's author mentions. It seems, from reading a support article on Microsoft.com, that that limitation is only in effect during the Windows XP installation process. I have a 250 GB FAT32 drive that works with no issues so that I can access it on Macs as well. FAT32 can support up to 2 TB. Microsoft FAT32 Reference: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310525/EN-US/

Hi Dreamachine536, you can purchase the harddrives from most of the computer stores or websites (tigerdirect, amazon, futureshop, bestbuy etc), and follow the instructions step by step as above and you will be fine. Hope this helps.

Hey i have the 40 GB PS3 and wanna upgrade cause i got 2 other brothers who play as well and it sucks the memory when you have 3 different saves of Assassins Creed. My question is where can i buy another hard disk for my PS3 and whats the going price for the higher end hard disk (ex: 120, 160, or 250)

well i just got 250 GB and i don't think its enough actually... i download the new beta testing for the play tv, its kinda like a tivo for the ps3... so i download movies from the net with my ps3 and save them on there... well not also that, i got tons of game to format them to my ps3, like old ps2 games etc...

250GB!!!!!!!!!!!what are you goin to do with that much of memory?????????!!!!!!

I just did this today and got to say it is pretty easy. I got the seagate monumentus 250gb, which is the same as the one the PS3 used. Those games install really add like 4GB to your hard drive per pop. The only warning I got to say is don't unscrew your hard drive when it is hot. My screw driver pretty much worn out the screw head when the metal got warm and softer.

This was a good step by step review by gamespot.

I've upgraded my 60GB 1st Edition U/C PS3 with a Samsung 320GB/5400rpm/8M HDD model HM320JI. Backup time approx. = 1hr 07min. Restore time approx. = 1hr 02min. Total HDD space detected by system before restore backup = 263GB/298GB. Backup data approx. = 29GB. Left over free space = 234GB/298GB.

ohh

this is stupid

i say if im sure by expierenced people it will work i'll do it.,

Great guide... But I am feeling a little weird
Prior to my upgrade, I only used about 15GB. I backed the whole thing up and did what the guide stated

However, right after the format, I already used 17GB and after restoring, i had double up my usage leaving me 193GB only... (250GB Western Digital)

Was I suppose to do a Full Format?
That will kill the OS right?