Upgrading PS3 Hard Drive Advice.

FooFighters

Basically, I just want to make sure I have all the right equipment for the job, as I will be doing it myself. The hard drive I'm looking at is (http://www.ebay.ie/itm/750GB-SATA-2-5-INCH-HARD-DRIVE-NOT-640GB-500G-LAPTOP-APPLE-MAC-PS3-SEALED-DRIVE-/230879171347?pt=UK_Computing_HardDrives_RL&hash=item35c1789313)
The next problem is a Hard Drive Enclosure that is compatible with this new hard drive and the Ps3 so I can back-up straight from the Ps3 onto the new drive. Harvey Norman or Pc World don't have any. Any suggestions. Cheapest possible please.

Varik

FooFighters wrote: »

The next problem is a Hard Drive Enclosure that is compatible with this new hard drive and the Ps3 so I can back-up straight from the Ps3 onto the new drive. Harvey Norman or Pc World don't have any. Any suggestions. Cheapest possible please.

I've gotten enclosures in PC world before, the irish website don't show half of what they have in store.

To do the job with 2 HDD (without loosing any data) you'll need 2 enclosures, you can't back up to a HDD and then put that HDD into the PS3. You need to back up to the new HDD which is in a enclosure and then remove the old HDD put that in an enclosure and copy the backup to the old drive, and then put the new HDD in the PS3 format and restore from the back up on the old drive.

FooFighters

Is that really the only way. Would it not work to just have the new one formatted to work with the ps3 then just back everything up on to it?

sweetie

if you are on psplus backup everything to the cloud bar the actual games themselves and once you have the new one in sign in and redownload the games and the saves etc from the cloud. worked for me.

Varik

FooFighters wrote: »

Is that really the only way. Would it not work to just have the new one formatted to work with the ps3 then just back everything up on to it?

The internal drive on the PS3 is formatted by the PS3 in a proprietary format and it's encrypted to that particular PS3.

FooFighters

See I want all my songs, movies, pictures and actual games to carry over. I have all my saves in the cloud for a back up just in case God forbid. Otherwise I would be weeks downloading all those games and stuff. That's quite disappointing to be honest.

FooFighters

Well this will be my second upgrade. Does that change anything? Had a 40GB (worst idea ever), upgraded to a 250GB. The reason I want to do it myself is because its forty euro to get it done and anywhere else isn't worth it because the petrol cost makes up for the cheaper price. PlayStation Plus is both a Godsend and a curse when you have a small hard drive.

sweetie

FooFighters wrote: »

Well this will be my second upgrade. Does that change anything? Had a 40GB (worst idea ever), upgraded to a 250GB. The reason I want to do it myself is because its forty euro to get it done and anywhere else isn't worth it because the petrol cost makes up for the cheaper price. PlayStation Plus is both a Godsend and a curse when you have a small hard drive.

so is sex

FooFighters

Hahaha nice one bud

FooFighters

Hitman Absolution, Catherine and Malicious coming to Ps Plus free in May. Absolution is 17GB alone.

FooFighters

Finally done all the research. Varik you are 100% right. Thanks for clearing that up. Could have been a disaster without that advice. Now onto the Enclosure. How will I know n the shop if it works with Ps3 or not?

ScumLord

Is the PS not compatible with Network Attached Storage (NAS). Can it access files on a PC for example?

You can get full NAS systems that are basically a mini server that is always on and ready to send out any requested files.

FooFighters

Id prefer to use the Enclosure so my old 250GB can be used as an external hard drive too.

FooFighters

So I have my two hard drives. Old one and new one. When I'm ready I will back-up everything on the old hard drive to the new one. I know when I put in the new one the PS3 will want to format it thus deleting the back-up. My query is, how do I go about getting my back-up off my new hard drive and onto my old one so I can restore from it when I put in the new one? I have the two hard drives, two Enclosures and laptop big enough to hold the back-up. What do I do?

Varik

FooFighters wrote: »

So I have my two hard drives. Old one and new one. When I'm ready I will back-up everything on the old hard drive to the new one. I know when I put in the new one the PS3 will want to format it thus deleting the back-up. My query is, how do I go about getting my back-up off my new hard drive and onto my old one so I can restore from it when I put in the new one? I have the two hard drives, two Enclosures and laptop big enough to hold the back-up. What do I do?

You don't need to copy anything to the laptop, you can copy it directly between each hard drive that is connected to the laptop as you have 2 enclosures ( this is faster).

After you have the backup on the new HDD you have to take the old HDD out of the PS3 and put it in the other enclosure.

Connect the old HDD to the laptop and format it, and then connect the other and copy directly from one to the other.

remove the new HDD and put it in the PS3, the PS3 will format it and now you can hook the other HDD up and restore the back-up.

platinums

Would an SSd speed up loading times, Gran Turismo 5 for example?

Varik

platinums wrote: »

Would an SSd speed up loading times, Gran Turismo 5 for example?

The HDD is usually not the limiting factor on the PS3, but there are games where loading times and frame rate would improve.

The benefit is not seen for every game and the smaller sizes of SSDs is a big negative on the PS3 especially if you have plus.

FooFighters

Thanks again Varik. Taking 14 hours to back-up. Its 71% now after all last night. Once it's done and I have it all copied and transferred I'll let you know how it goes.

stephendevlin

ScumLord wrote: »

Is the PS not compatible with Network Attached Storage (NAS). Can it access files on a PC for example?

You can get full NAS systems that are basically a mini server that is always on and ready to send out any requested files.

Its compatable as it uses UPNP. I had to change router from the crappy standard eircom one to get it to work

FooFighters

My laptop wont recognize the hard drive from the ps3. The old hard drive. Do I format it when its in the Ps3?

stephendevlin

FooFighters wrote: »

My laptop wont recognize the hard drive from the ps3. The old hard drive. Do I format it when its in the Ps3?

You need to delete the volume in disk mananger (on the laptop) and create a new one

FooFighters

How do I do that?

stephendevlin

FooFighters wrote: »

How do I do that?

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000

Varik

FooFighters wrote: »

How do I do that?

Press the start button and type "partition" then select "create and format hard drive partition".

FooFighters

So am I converting it or creating simple volume.

stephendevlin

FooFighters wrote: »

So am I converting it or creating simple volume.

Create simple volume to wipe disk create as NTFS, (or FAT32 if you want to use on PS3)

FooFighters

Thanks lads. Three hours to transfer the back-up across.

FooFighters

When I put the new hard drive in it says its not the right format. It doesnt give me an option to format it. Then asks for the 4.40 or higher update. Put the update on a flash drive. Put it in and it says checking for ages. Still checking now.

FooFighters

It's all up and running now, everything is working. Thanks stephendevlin and special thanks to Varik. Couldn't have managed without your advice.