Upgrading my HDD - Backing up vs. redownloading content from PSN

[Tyger]

Hoping someone can help with this. I just got a new 500GB drive for my PS3 and was all set to go through the rigmarole of backing up all of my downloaded games to an external drive, and restoring later.

However, it's just occurred to me that my save games can easily be backed up to a USB key (actually GT5 is the only one really important to me) and the rest of my drive is filled with download-only games from the Playstation store (mostly PSN freebies)

Now as apparently I can re-download any of those games by going into my download history, my question is this: Is my download history stored on my PS3 or on Sony's servers? In other words, will I be able to access it when I have installed the new drive? If that is the case, I will probably just re-download all the games, rather than clearing my only spare external drive of data (which will be a slow process) and re-formatting it for the PS3 backup (for which I know there are online tutorials and apps but it's still kinda fiddly)

Furthermore, if I simply remove my current HDD and swap it out, and Plan A above doesn't work (perhaps some games are no longer available, I can think of one demo at least), surely I can slot the old drive back in again which will still hold all my games, then do it the slow way, by doing a full back-up?

Any tips appreciated, thanks!

 

[Parker]

Your download list is on Sony servers, not your PS3 so you can swap the HDD and then re-download everything again. At least that was the way it was when I checked and I don't see why that would change.

As for the second part, I know when you put another HDD into the PS3 it automatically reformats itself, but I'm not sure if it will if you put the original HDD back in. Hopefully someone else can clear that one up.

 

[Tyger]

Thanks, that is good to know. I think i'll just go through all my games and see if there is anything that is no longer available at the Playstation store, hopefully not, or very few. If I see some that aren't i'll choose the title I like least, delete it and see if I can download it again

On a related note, can anyone suggest the best way of saving the firmware on a USB key? A lot of tutorials for upgrading your drive seem to skip this step but I gather the PS3 asks for the latest update data file from the Playstation site. I've downloaded this, but one tutorial said you have to create a folder named "PS3" and create another inside that called "UPDATE" and save the pup file there. Is this really necessary? Can I not just drop it in my USB key without a folder?

Oh one more question, where do I stand with GT5 DLC and my Stealth cars and such? As I will need to effectively install GT5 again (and all the updates, but I can deal with that). However I don't want to lose my stealth cars, the handful of free cars PD have given out, my Chromeline Jag I got from an FB game and of course my paid-for DLC (but presumably the latter I can download again). Also is it possible to back up the GT5 game data alone (as I think this will fit on my USB key)?