Upgrade you PS3 Hard Drive

The release of two new Playstation 3 systems from Sony with upgraded hard drive capacities has highlighted the fact that many PS3 users, use their console for many things, from gaming to movies and other media and entertainment. All of this usage means the PS3 has become a bit of an entertainment hub. Regular users could well find themselves running a little short when it comes to the hard disk space left on their console.

These new Playstation models offer 160gb and 320gb hard drives, if your an existing Playstation 3 owner then you can achieve a higher hard drive capacity by upgrading the console yourself.

To complete this upgrade you will need,

• Philips head screwdriver
• external hard drive or other USB storage device.
• 2.5" hard drive
• Your PS3 :)

Step 1

Connect your external storage device to your PS3 and power up the console. Now navigate the XMB to the PS3's backup utility and follow the instructions to backup all the data written on the current hard drive. If you wish to start a fresh or have nothing of importance to you on your current drive then you can skip this part.

Note - The external storage drive must be formatted in the FAT32 file system for the PS3 to recognise it. It will not recognise NTFS or any other file system.

Step 2

Once the backup is complete, power down the PS3 and remove the power, HDMI, audio and any other cable from the back of the console. Underneath the PS3 slim console is a small cover plate protecting the screw. The plate should be labelled with "HDD". Remove the screw and the the front plastic plate covering the hard drive bay.

The hard drive and its case can now be slid out from the console. Remove the drive from its tray and replace with your new drive. Seat the drive firmly in the tray and slide it back into the console securely. Replace the cover and screw the plate back down onto the console.

Step 3

Re-connect all of the cables to your PS3 and power up the console. You should be greeted with a message that your hard drive requires formatting. Accept this message and navigate to the system settings on the XMB and select format utility. this may take several minutes, but afterwards your system will be ready to use.

Step 4

Once the formatting is complete you can restore the data from your backup storage device. Connect this device back up to the PS3  and navigate back to the system settings and once again to the backup utility. This time selecting the restore function and begin the procedure.

Its that simple, now you have an upgraded hard drive on your PS3 and can store more music games and video's to your hearts content.

Very important - The Playstation 3 takes a laptop sized 2.5" SATA hard drive, it will not house a standard desktop sized 3.5" hard drive. Also the thickness of the drive can not exceed 9.5mm. Some of the higher capacity drives have a thickness of 12.5mm and will not fit in the PS3's drive bay.

Amazon has a great list of Playstation 3 compatible hard drives to choose from - Click Here

Tweet

© 2006 - 2011 PantherProducts. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the copyright of their respected owners. PantherProducts attempts to keep all information accurate but cannot accept responsibility for anything caused by information on these pages.