New HDD For Your PS3? Say Good Bye To Your Old One Forever

wow4u - 641 days 4 hours ago

"All his saves"? That could be many many GB of data. Is there no way to transfer your data to the new HD directly?

That's a seriously bad design.

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-EvoAnubis- - 641 days 4 hours ago

He could have every single PS3 game on the worldwide market and all of them on PSN, including PS1 Classics from each region's Store, and the gamesaves would still be less than 1.5GB.

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Skerj - 641 days 4 hours ago

Anubis is right, the guy didn't do research before doing that apparently, because I thought you needed to backup to like an external USB drive or something. He also said he tried to use Ghost with an enclosure, how come he didn't use the enclosure to begin with to migrate all his stuff to the 250gb?

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Genesis5 - 641 days 3 hours ago

Yeah just dump them on to a flash drive it's not hard. I dump all my completed PS3 and PS2 game saves on to the same 1 gig flash drive and there is still tons of space on it.

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Cryos - 641 days 3 hours ago

Why would you even try this without first reading something about it?

very very foolish

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whoelse - 641 days 2 hours ago

He doesn't deserve it. But he should have backed it up certainly.

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tatical - 641 days 2 hours ago

"All his saves"? That could be many many GB of data. Is there no way to transfer your data to the new HD directly?

By reading your comment, you probably don't have a PS3. My game saves are rarely over 1 MB, most of them are around 400 kB (0.4 MB).

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athlon770 - 641 days 2 hours ago

If you owned a PS3, you would know that right in the menu tree is a option to back up "ALL" data, however how many gig is on the drive and you can back it up to a external usb hard drive.

It is something that is done quite simply and in fact the most difficult part of the ordeal is formatting the external hard drive to fat32 which the PS3 and the 360 recognize.

I understand that maybe everyone might not have a spare external usb hard drive laying around the house, but as stated above, he should of put his game saves onto a thumb drive which even a 2gig stick costs under $30.00.

Heck, I have a 512meg card constantly in my PS3 (I have the original 60gig version) that once a week, I copy my game saves over too as a just in case type of deal, and once a month, I do a full backup of my internal drive to my external drive.

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scottie2521 - 641 days ago

i changed my HDD months ago and it was extremely simple.

first, everywhere you look for info on how to swap drives clearly tells you to save all game saves to a memory card or USB. most places have this printed in bold just so everyone can see how important this step is.

this guy obviously didn't do ANY research and now he's f*cked.

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-EvoAnubis- - 641 days ago

"Heck, I have a 512meg card constantly in my PS3 (I have the original 60gig version) that once a week, I copy my game saves over too as a just in case type of deal, and once a month, I do a full backup of my internal drive to my external drive."

This is EXACTLY what I do, down to the size of the memory stick in my PS3.

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tweaker - 640 days 23 hours ago

Bad design?....nice one! since when did game saves take GB of data? lol

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SL1M DADDY - 640 days 15 hours ago

You sir are ignorant and should not be posting about something you know nothing about. I for one just recently swapped out my HDD and simply backed up the game saves to a thumb drive. Once the install was completed in about two minutes, I simply copied the saves to the new HDD and was good to go. If the idiot in the article did not read up on how to successfully do the swap (as it is illustrated in the MANUAL), then he should simply give up on electronics all together.

Oh, and as for your "poor design" comment... At least it's not a 180 dollar 120gb HDD that can only be used on a proprietary system. Over priced HDD space is worse.

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Jinxstar - 640 days 15 hours ago

@ n4user1

I have 16 games for PS3. I saved them all to a 1 gig mem stick and didn't even fill up 25% of it. The only thing that was kinda a pain was reinstalling all the games. DMC4 and HS and such... Still though I lost no save games... No excuse imho to not have saved games.

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BrianC6234 - 640 days 12 hours ago

I agree. The guy is an idiot. Crying about his tiny problem. Oh wow, big mean Sony. They stopped him from copying his data. That will teach him.

Funny how this is the first time this problem has come up after more than a year. Even if this problem is real big deal. Just back up your data before you do anything else. Problem solved. I don't think most people do things backwards like he does.

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wow4u - 640 days 9 hours ago

Wow, so much vitrol. Perhaps they could have done like Xbox 360 and provided a free cable, plugin the cable, transfer the data. ALL of it. Done.

So, the game saves are only a couple GB - what about the other data? How do you move that? The installs? The Downloaded Games? The music, movies and pictures you may have put there (though, for the life of me, I dont know why anyone would put data on a closed box like a video-game console as opposed to using a machine on your home network or a external drive... but I digress).

But the fact that you _cannot_ move data off the machine WITHOUT jumping through all kinds of hoops, means the design is terrible.

The mass-market is what has to do all this. And, if this feature isnt designed properly -- like Sony has failed here -- its not ready for prime-time.

This forum is up in arms, why? Because they arent looking at it rationally.

Sure, you _can_ do it. But, the method Microsoft implemented is vastly superior.

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BlackCountryBob - 640 days 9 hours ago

You just are not listening are you?

The HDD is standard so there is no need for a daft 360 style proprietary cable to transfer data. There is an option on the PS3 menu to backup every single piece of data and settings to a external source like a USB hard drive, this includes all installs, demos, music, pictures, game saves and PSN material. This is good design, its not quite as elegant as say the Apple time machine system using the wifi hard drive but it is in actuality no different to the backup method employed by every single PC/Linux and is still available on Apple macs so its hardly new or confusingly original.

IMO its very good in fact as it places responsibility on the user to care for their data.

This guy was an idiot, he should have looked at some FAQs about how to change HDDs and he would have learnt this, he is suffering from his own stupidity. And also, any idiot should have known that before you do any work like that to a system you should perform a backup before anything else.

For what its worth, he can rip his music again, transfer his photos, re-download his PSN games (no DRM) and his games will install again, he has lost his saves which is something that could have been avoided if he had done some very very minor research first, all this could have been avoided with something as small as a 64mb USB for his saves!

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athlon770 - 640 days 9 hours ago

I understand what you are saying, and I partly agree with you. When I upgraded from a 360 pro to a 360 elite, there was nothing I could do to save my data from the old 20gig hard drive. Luckily, one of my friends did the upgrade route and had the cable and install disc. So, no, Microsoft did not make it painless as you are implying, but if using the upgrade kit, with the cable and disc, yes, you attach the cable to the new drive, start up the 360, pop in the disc, and wait 3hrs for the system to do whatever it needs to do.

With the PS3, anyone and everyone can upgrade their hard drive easily. As I stated before, the hardest thing to do is format the external hard drive you will use as fat32. After that, it is a five step process...

1) select back up data from the menu.
2) remove original hard drive
3) insert new hard drive
4) power on PS3 and say 'yes' to format new hard drive
5) restore saved data

ALL data will be restored this way, any music you ripped, any movies you saved, any game data that was saved to the system, even that 5gig DMC4 mandatory install!

If you consider this is more difficult than the 360 way, well that is your opinion but I doubt few around here will agree with you since PS3 owners can CHOOSE any size 2.5" SATA hard drive they want and slap it into the system...oh and when we purchase a 120gig hard drive, it does not cost us $180.00!

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wow4u - 640 days 8 hours ago

"When I upgraded from a 360 pro to a 360 elite, there was nothing I could do to save my data from the old 20gig hard drive." == wrong.

******

You can get the cable from Microsoft -- for free -- here:

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/s...

So, you didnt need to borrow the cable, they'll send you one for $0.

*******

To make your "simple 5-step process" work, you need an external HD that is _larger_ than the HD on your PS3.

Very very few people have one of those lying around. For the mass market, the Xbox 360 method is vastly easier.

For the PS3 method, you need to get inside the PS3, you need to be able to identify what a bare-HD is, you need a large external HD, you need to follow a menu system to perform a "backup" ("uh, what is that" asks Ms. Soccer Mom).

The Xbox 360 method? Two clicks, insert disc, done.

It's laughable to argue otherwise. What is "easier"? Paying a couple extra bucks for a HD, and a clean transfer method or buying a computer harddrive and putting it into your videogame machine, getting a third-party device ("I dont have one of those, what does GB mean?" says Mrs. Soccer Mom), and choosing some obscure menu option ("hey, there are no instructions in my HD box on how to do this!" - Mrs. Soccer Mom)

Lets not be silly here. Yes, using any HD is nice for those who care about a few bucks savings, but for those who just want an easy upgrade, the Xbox 360 is _vastly_ superior.

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callahan09 - 640 days 8 hours ago

Quote: ""All his saves"? That could be many many GB of data. Is there no way to transfer your data to the new HD directly?

That's a seriously bad design."

Bad design or not, it's still by far the best design any console has had ever had as far as hard drives are concerned. The 360 doesn't give you the choice of using any 2.5" sata hard drive, which means if you want to upgrade your 360 drive you have to buy a very overpriced proprietary drive. And there's no way to transfer the files directly in that scenario, either.

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callahan09 - 640 days 8 hours ago

Uh, you're making it out to be a lot more difficult than it actually is.

There is a clearly labeled plastic cover on the side of the PS3 that says "Detach this cover when removing the hard disk." You detach it and there's a screw to remove, then you see the hard drive, and nothing else. There's no need to identify the hard drive, because it's the only thing you see. You pull it out, put in the new one, and screw the screw back on, put the cover back on, and done.

To back up your existing hard drive before installing the new one, you need an external hard drive. Or a flash card. It's no big deal. These things are inexpensive.

Anyway, to replace the PS3 hard drive, all you need is the basic ability to read and use a screwdriver.

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Enigma_2099 - 640 days 7 hours ago

... when you remember that you can back up your data on a seperate storage unit and then back to the new HDD?

DNRTFManual!

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streeks1984 - 640 days 11 hours ago

Yes he should have done some type of research before doing that because the same thing happened to me and I lost everything because I was sooo hyped about gettin my 200gb hard drive so I feel for him....very dumb on both our parts.

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Tempist - 640 days 11 hours ago

Clearly...

Come on, people, Sony included the instructions to upgrading the harddrive for a reason. Also that's no excuse for not backing up game saves.

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fenderputty - 641 days 3 hours ago

one shouldn't back up their files? You never know what could happen. When doing stuff of this nature it's always safe practice to back things up.

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halo3betasnatch out - 641 days 3 hours ago

No you should back up your files, but you guys have to understand that it is very strange for you not to be able to swap HDDs and put the old one back in if you want. All the manuals and tutorials in the world could say that, but 1 most people don't read manuals or watch the tutorials, and 2 it is perfectly reasonable for someone to think that he could swap the HDDs in and out as he pleased, I think that it is a pretty stupid set up for the PS3, but I still love my baby Play station.

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-EvoAnubis- - 641 days 3 hours ago

It does. I've removed my internal HDD on 4 separate occasions (to show friends how easy it is) and put it back in with ZERO issues. I don't know how, but this guy just f'd up.

--

Edit: Just re-read it, and I DO know how he f'd up. He plugged it into his PC. That was not smart.

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Gorgon - 641 days 3 hours ago

"7.1 - does that mean one shouldn't back up their files?"

When did I said that?
I'm just commenting on the fact that it's a pretty decent assumption that you could just swap HDDs any time you want in a PS3, just like in a PC. Should PCs also loose the possibility to swap HDDs every time you want just because you can also backup data in a PC?

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Cryos - 641 days 3 hours ago

if you swap out hdd on a pc, though, you need to somehow save the os to a new disk. And (my assumption here) if my pc had only one connection for a hdd and I wanted a bigger one in, I'd first backup or copy the files I wanted, then swap out.

He's lucky Sony chose to keep the os intact away from the hdd.

this guy just jumped in and did no research. makes it his bad.

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Gorgon - 641 days 3 hours ago

Cryos:

No, you don't need to backup the OS. You can just put another HDD and put another OS instalation there. Then you swap it again and the other HDD will run just fine with the OS in it.

Also, you can have two HDDs and just swap the one with only data on it. Like you said, the PS3 OS in not in the HDD, just data, so again I don't see why it could not be done.

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andron666 - 641 days 3 hours ago

As for the HDD it would work just fine when you put it back. But not if you mess it up before putting it back....

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Cryos - 641 days 3 hours ago

wow gorgon, you totally missed my point. lol

here's what I'm saying. If you want to swap out HDD on a pc, but 1. don't plan on keeping the old one (let's assume there is only 1 place for a hdd, like the PS3) and 2. don't want to buy a new OS or whatever

what is one to do?

Obviously Copy the files first, then change said HDD. so what this guy did went against conventional logic.

The reason Sony did this was probably to deter game saves and whatnot to be posted to the web, along with PSN games. Makes sense. They are trying to keep pirating from happening and I don't blame them. So, once you format a new HDD for the PS3, the system reads this as the HDD and the other cannot be swapped. Sucks for you and I (not really, it's really EASY to follow the instructions that are in the manual, on the web, youtube videos, etc.) but I'd rather have to do an extra step to ensure that pirating is harder. It hurts the game industry, and means less money for developers, those we depend on to deliver great games.

*Edit*
btw, would you try to use a windows formatted HDD in a mac or vice-versa? the why try a PS formatted HDD on a different platform?

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Gorgon - 640 days 13 hours ago

Cryos:

Yep, sorry there, I guess I misinterpreted what you were trying to say. Yes, I agree with you, "since you put it that way..I'm in" (LOL)

I think that its a matter of piracy, like you, unless he did something wrong and you can actually do it. Still my point was simply that it is perfectly expectable to be abble to do it and I can't criticise the guy for assuming it could be done.

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wow4u - 640 days 9 hours ago

"I've removed my internal HDD on 4 separate occasions (to show friends how easy it is)"

Ok. Sure, it is "easy". But it is not as easy as the solution Microsoft has. The harddrive clicks on and off so you can carry it with you (to play @ a friends for instance).

If you want to say "removing PS3 is easy" you must say "removing Xbox 360 HD is MORE easy". So, why use the word "easy" if it has no context?

So, in reality, in a world where adjectives have actual meaning, this is true:

Removing the PS3 harddrive is hard.
Removing the Xbox 360 harddrive is easy.

They cant both be "easy" when they are not the same. Clearly, "less easy", "not as easy" would be better when talking about the HD in the PS3.

Not only is _changing_ the physical drive harder, but clearly -- by this article -- the method is harder too.

There is _no_ denying this reality. Im not really saying the PS3 is _hard_ -- just that its clearly nonsense to say it is "easy", because that has CONTEXT.

And that context is compared to the Xbox 360, which is vastly more easy to do this than the poor solution PS3 has foisted on the public.

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athlon770 - 640 days 8 hours ago

Indeed, you can just unclip the hard drive from the 360, but the PS3 all you need to do is put a thumb drive in one of the USB slots, copy the game profile to it, and take the small thumb drive over to your friends house without risking you rather expensive hard drive.

Lets see here, risk a $90.00 20gig hard drive or a $180.00 120gig hard drive, or copy the game profiles over to a $15.00 thumb drive and take that over to the friends house...hmmm, yea, I'm going to use my thumb drive thanks, but you are right, the 360's hard drive does come off very easily. Congrats.

Of course we are getting off topic here, this isn't about how 'easy' it is to remove hard drives, it is about how this guy didn't follow directions and lost all his game saves because he thought he knew something when he did not. If you consider how many hours of gaming he lost when all it would have taken is 30seconds to copy his game saves to a thumb drive (which I am sure he has (infact he probably has multiple)) it just makes his comments ridiculous!

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halo3betasnatch out - 641 days 3 hours ago

Great rule, but under 30% of computer owners do it, just because of lack of knowledge, lack of extra HDD, and even just lazynes =/

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-EvoAnubis- - 641 days 3 hours ago

Sounds like a personal problem.

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halo3betasnatch out - 641 days 3 hours ago

oh I know that it is, but that doesn't change my point, either way people should back up, it's just too bad that they don't

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-EvoAnubis- - 641 days 3 hours ago

Agreed.

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Percy - 641 days ago

i have 3 hardrives that i can just plug in and they work fine. He screwed it up thats why im laughing.

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PATRIOTS 27 - 641 days 3 hours ago

And your point is what?

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The_Engineer - 640 days 9 hours ago

and im just waiting for 1TB 2.5" drives to come out then its hehehehehhe.

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