PS3 HDD Upgrade Tutorial(now includes PS3 Slim!)

  • Thread starter nick09
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OK today I got PS3 slim today, finnaly after weeks of waiting because they sell out like hotcakes! I replace the 500gb 7200 right away out of the box. Once I turn it on, I needed to patch the sytem VIA USB device because it could not recognize the HDD. After installing latest patch to PS3 slim, it works fine.

Seems the PS3 slim has brighter colors over my old Fat one (video picture). Also I needed to deactivate my account on FAT PS3 and activate it on the new one. SO that the new SLIM will be my primary PS3. All seem to work. Now I have a fresh HDD and a lot of storage :).

Slim seems pretty nice looking, as well its very quiet, the new HDD is way more quiet over my FAT 186 gig HDD. I am happy I have a cool HDD player for the Main Living room, as well media card slots for family pictures, my Slim will be in the office/game room for months and months of fun!

So I am a Proud owner of 3 PS3s.

PS3 Fan, Launch 60 gig (186gb 7200rpm now) .
PS3 Metal Gear Solid 4 Japanese Edition with special paint on console and controller, unopened :). (Only time I will ever open is if when I get a chance from the creator to sing it, as well American Snake voice actor to sing in)
PS3 Slim with 500GB 7200rpm HDD
 
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Might think of upgrading my 80GB HDD PS3 to a 500GB HDD one.

If your in NZ and buys their parts in computer store, I will buy it there too.

*update: just bought it and will have to wait for the shipment to arrive.
 
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I swapped a 320GB 7200RPM into my launch PS3, and I'm currently mulling over swapping in a 750GB or more hard drive in to replace that.
 
Yeah, just upgraded my 80gb hdd ps3 to a 500gb hdd. :)

Used Western Digital 2.5" SATA 500GBHDD internal drive.
 
Toronado
I swapped a 320GB 7200RPM into my launch PS3, and I'm currently mulling over swapping in a 750GB or more hard drive in to replace that.
Click to expand...

You won't be able to use a 750 or a 1TB because of the drive's slightly larger thickness(12.5mm vs standard 9.5mm). The largest you can fit inside the PS3 is a WD 640GB 2.5" HDD. Unless they can make a new hard drive with those capacities at an 9.5mm thickness then I'm afraid you are stuck using up to 640GB in the PS3.
 
Actually, there are videos of 1TB PS3s on youtube. And it HAS been done before. But note: 1TB is the MAX the PS3 will support at the moment....not that'd you'd need more than that.
 
Well I just checked Newegg and I now eat my words, literally.:boggled:

So right now according to Newegg the max you can get without using a desktop hard drive out side the PS3 is 750GB WD laptop drive. The 1TB WD laptop drive that is available right now is too thick at 12.5mm vs 9.5mm of an regular laptop drive. So you would not be able to fit the 1TB laptop drive into the PS3 due to the physical size.
 
Dumped a 500gig into my PS3 60gig 2 days ago, was so simple, then taken the 60gig and have put it into my second bedroom 40gig PS3, just need to format it and reload all backed up data on to it again.

500gig is working flawless its only 5400rpm, no change in performance from small 60gig so im happy.
 
GTP_V8SuperCars
Dumped a 500gig into my PS3 60gig 2 days ago, was so simple, then taken the 60gig and have put it into my second bedroom 40gig PS3, just need to format it and reload all backed up data on to it again.

500gig is working flawless its only 5400rpm, no change in performance from small 60gig so im happy.
Click to expand...

Same, just posted that a couple of weeks ago. :)

Had a 80GB HDD before.
 
I'm thinking of upgrading my piffling 40GB HDD in preparation for GT5 later this year, and I've bought the replacement HDD (500GB no less :D), but before I proceed I just want to make sure a few things first.

Oddly, my new HDD doesn't measure 2.5 inch across, but the store says it is :boggled: It's ~4.6 inch across. Will it fit? Also, I can only find a 5400 rpm one, is there that much difference in performance compared to a 7200 rpm one? In terms of load times, how many seconds shorter (approximately) are we expecting?

I also plan to use my 80GB iPod as the external backup HDD, will this work? I've read somewhere that it needs to be FAT32 formatted, is that correct?

Third, I REALLY want to make sure none of my data are lost, so if anyone with a kind soul is willing to help, could you give the following list a check?

Game data (including updates, patches, etc)
Game saves (including locked ones)
Trophies (do I have to sign-in to PSN first to 'reclaim' them?)
User Info (everything under Account Management)
DLCs & DLGs (i.e. PSN downloaded games)
Themes & Avatars (especially premium ones)
Users (the ones when you first start up)
F@H data (records, my current project, team details, etc)
Friends list (self-explanatory)
Settings (basically PS3 settings e.g. display, sound, system patches, etc)

Also, I've read that when signing-in to PSN for the first time you need to select 'Add Existing Account' instead of the other option. Is this correct?

Sorry if I'm being overly OCD lol. My GT1 & GT2 gamesave got corrupted once many years ago and since then I'm extremely paranoid when it comes to backing up/transferring game data and stuff :scared: I also realize that most of the stuff I asked could be re-downloaded from PSN, but I have a very limited internet quota so it would be more convenient for me if I don't have to.

Thanks in advance 👍
 
Game data (including updates, patches, etc)- OK
Game saves (including locked ones)- Yes but I'm not sure about locked. They should also be backed up.
Trophies (do I have to sign-in to PSN first to 'reclaim' them?)- login
User Info (everything under Account Management)- login
DLCs & DLGs (i.e. PSN downloaded games)- OK
Themes & Avatars (especially premium ones)- OK
Users (the ones when you first start up)- login
F@H data (records, my current project, team details, etc)- OK
Friends list (self-explanatory)- login
Settings (basically PS3 settings e.g. display, sound, system patches, etc)- OK

The 2.5" measurement is just the diameter of the hard drive platters(Desktop is 3.5"). There would be a slight increase of performance so it's your choice if the extra money is worth it. I think there was some posts on this forum about the speed of a 7200 rpm drive. Yes you can use your ipod as an backup device and you can check for the format if you right-click it on My Computer and select properties. As you said it should be formatted to FAT32 for use with the PS3.

If you want to make sure just Google the model number and check online to see if it is a laptop drive. If it is then you should be fine.
 
Hi guys, got my slim yesterday and removed the 120gb HDD. Just awaiting the 640gb Samsung drive to be delivered. As I've nothing to back up apart from save files I'm hoping for an easy transition.

[EDIT 1]

OK guys, the HDD has just arrived, I put the new drive in and tried to update it but PS3 states "No applicable update data was found" on my USB stick!! this is driving me bonkers its there and I've downloaded it twice just in case but no luck! any ideas?

[EDIT 2]

Wow how temperamental is Playstation software?!?! it took me about 50 attempts to get the PS3 to recognize the software on my USB stick before actually doing what I need. "Dear Sony, make your software better and with less bug and quirks" heart failure over, back to setting up my new PS3.
 
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Yeh, I got a brand new PS3 slim 120GB. I decided with the games I have and media I wanted to put in it the size wasn't good enough. So I got the Samsung 640GB drive, once I got it, I took the old drive out (without even turning on the PS3 once), I put the new drive in and once turned on it stated the HDD needed to be formatted and the latest firmware installed. I downloaded the latest one from SCEE and created the two folders as per usual, now I'm no fool when it comes to the PS3/PSP file system, I've had both from launch. But the PS3 wouldn't recognise the latest firmware I tried lots of times pressing "start" and "select" together to initiate the search, but no luck. Eventually after 40 minutes to an hour it did it, but I can't help but point the finger at the playstation and Sony as the pen drive is fine, I've run checks and no damage at all.

All is well now as the HDD is in and working like a trooper, but I must admit I did start to get stressed.
 
i did this once. upgraded my ps3 to a 300+ hard drive and it worked great. i was a bit nervous about it at first tho but everything worked ok.
 
I have a question more or less related with this.

I upgraded my PS3 some time ago, and was planning to use the old HDD as a external HDD, but when I linked it to my computer through USB, it recognized the HDD and installed the drives it needed to run (from what I understood), but after that even though the computer recognized the HDD, it was no where to be found, so I couldn't format it...

I hope that's not to confusing...

And I only am asking this now, because I will be doing the same soon enough for other PS3 and really don't feel like leaving 2 80GB HDD gathering dust if I can re-use them...
 
So can I put my game data utility on the new HDD (noob question)oh and are there specific requriments or properties of the HDD.
 
@Han_The_Dragon: Just follow these instructions. Look under "Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive" on that page so you can make the hard drives appear in windows. You have to do this both of your 80GB hard drives.

@sems4arsenal: The easiest way to do that is to run the backup utility and follow the instructions that are in the tutorial. I have already specified what you need in the first post. This hard drive is SATA, if you wanted a good example. The product page should tell you that the hard drive is SATA and should either tell you that it's a laptop drive or it should tell you that it's an 2.5" form factor
 
nick09
@Han_The_Dragon: Just follow these instructions. Look under "Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive" on that page so you can make the hard drives appear in windows. You have to do this both of your 80GB hard drives.

@sems4arsenal: The easiest way to do that is to run the backup utility and follow the instructions that are in the tutorial. I have already specified what you need in the first post. This hard drive is SATA, if you wanted a good example. The product page should tell you that the hard drive is SATA and should either tell you that it's a laptop drive or it should tell you that it's an 2.5" form factor
Click to expand...

Thanks :) I will do that the next time I have time.
 
nick09
@Han_The_Dragon: Just follow these instructions. Look under "Formatting a Secondary Hard Drive" on that page so you can make the hard drives appear in windows. You have to do this both of your 80GB hard drives.

@sems4arsenal: The easiest way to do that is to run the backup utility and follow the instructions that are in the tutorial. I have already specified what you need in the first post. This hard drive is SATA, if you wanted a good example. The product page should tell you that the hard drive is SATA and should either tell you that it's a laptop drive or it should tell you that it's an 2.5" form factor
Click to expand...

Thanks alot Nick will hopefully br upgrading soon my olg 40 gb needs some juice thanks mate.
 
I plan on doing this mod to my PS3, but I have 2 questions on which HDD to get. Should I get the 5400 RPM or 7200 RPM? I read somewhere that the 7200 RPM runs hotter, but faster. My other question is, how much faster?
 

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