How to Back Up the Data on Your PS3

Article by Andrew E (667 pts ) , published Jul 3, 2009

When backing up your PlayStation 3 hard drive, there are some things that you need to consider and plan for.

Backing Up Data

Over the life of your system, there may be a time when it is necessary to back up your Playstation 3 hard drive (hard drives don't always last forever). Perhaps you want to back up your data so you can replace your hard drive.

Maybe you plan on sending in your Playstation 3 for repairs, or it could just be the 200 hours you spent completing that latest game to 100%. No matter what your reason is, it can be done fairly easily if you know what you are doing.

Before you start, there is one big choice you have to make about what device to use when backing up the data. You have two options: use an external hard drive or a flash drive.

Using an External Hard Drive

External Hard Drive (Source: http://www.wdc.com/en/products/index.asp?cat=8 )An external hard drive will allow you to back up your entire PS3 ([Settings]>[System Settings]>[Backup Utility]>Back Up), but if you don't have one already it is a large extra investment for something that you will only do once. If you do decide to go this route, the external hard drive will need to be formatted to the Fat32 file system. You can use your computer to format your external hard drive, but it will wipe any existing data you have on the drive.

However, if your external hard drive size is over 32 GB, you will need to use a third-party program to format it to Fat32. To make it simple, you are going to want to start with an external hard drive that is formatted correctly.

Using a Flash Drive

Flash drives are cheap to buy and more useful on a daily basis, but you will not be able to move over any themes, setting preferences, USB Flash Drive by Centonor sign-in information. You also have to copy over files manually and may find yourself going between your Playstation 3 and PC to offload files multiple times if you decide to move your movies or music collection. Do not forget to back up your game saves, as they contain all the blood, sweat, and tears that you probably do not want to have to relive. Neither backup option you choose will allow you to copy your game downloads, so those will have to be re-added.

After everything is said and done, you can now rest easier knowing that your data is backed up for your Playstation 3.

What Next?

If you are backing up your data to replace your hard drive, here is a guide about how to replace the PS3 hard drive.

Comments

Oct 19, 2009 4:32 AM
Darren
Not Everyone Is Poor Like You Eric :P
Qoute: Jon Eric Brantner
Don't have to have a third party software to format to FAT32
All you have to do is do it from a command prompt in XP....

CMD

type in format /FS:FAT32 X:
where X is the drive letter - this will allow you to format the hard drive to FAT32 without using third party software....


What About All Using Vista And Windows 7 - Unlike that 10 Year Old Os Your Using :P
Sep 30, 2009 11:35 PM
X
Does it back up dital games that you bought
Does this back up save digital games that you bought on the store?
Sep 30, 2009 1:57 AM
bink
I need help
well this is my problem I got a new ps3 the slim well i want to get all my info and my friends list but I dont know how to do the fat 32 does it matter is my external hard drive is a 1tb and is the like a youtube thing that i could watch that tells me step by step to do the fat32 because i want to do it right and save everything and my friends too and bring it to my new ps3 if you could help that so sweet lol well thats for reading
Sep 14, 2009 1:43 PM
Jon Eric Brantner
Don't have to have a third party software to format to FAT32
All you have to do is do it from a command prompt in XP....

CMD

type in format /FS:FAT32 X:
where X is the drive letter - this will allow you to format the hard drive to FAT32 without using third party software....
 
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