4 MINUTES TO HAVE A FRESH, NEW, LARGE HDD IN YOUR PS3! (eg. 320GB , 500GB +).

IT IS THIS SIMPLE - REMOVE OLD HARD DRIVE & INSTALL NEW HARD DRIVE - WITH REMOVING & REPLACING 5 SCREWS! ONCE DONE, IT AUTO-PROMPTS TO REFORMAT. YOU ARE DONE. THIS WORKS FOR ANY PS3 SYSTEM - BE IT A 40GB, 60GB, 80GB, 160GB, PS3 SLIM ... .

***    [AN ADDITIONAL STEP IF YOU WISH TO SAVE ANY GAMES, GAME SAVES, PHOTO'S,ETC; WOULD BE TO SIMPLY CLICK THE BACK-UP UTILITY & COPY TO EXTERNAL MEDIA; THEN COPY IT BACK TO NEW HARD DRIVE].   ***  THE COPYING WOULD BE DONE PRIOR TO REMOVING THE OLD HARD DRIVE !!  ***

YOU DO NOT NEED TO SAVE SYSTEM DATA, TIME & DATE, ALL YOUR SETTINGS - THAT IS ALL AUTOMATIC - EVEN THE PS3 MANUAL SAYS YOU HAVE TO SAVE SYSTEM DATA- YOU DONT, ITS AUTOMATIC.

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ADDITIONAL (NEW) NOTE re PS3 system software update 2.80 +: INSTEAD OF SIMPLY SLIPPING IN THE HARD DRIVE AND EVERYTHING IS SMOOTH, IT MAY SAY: DOESN'T HAVE UPDATE VERSION X.XX. THIS IS EASILY SOLVED. YOU SIMPLY CREATE A DOCUMENT ON THE COMPUTER WITH FILE - NAMED 'PS3', INSIDE THAT, NAME FILE 'UPDATE' - THEN GO TO PLAYSTATION SITE, DOWNLOAD UPDATE, SAVE TO 'UPDATE' FILE, ADD,  .PUP TO END OF FILE NAME. MOVE THIS TO SOME MEDIA TYPE- I USED A CD-R. SIMPLY TAKE THE CD (OR OTHER MEDIA STORAGE DEVICE), INSERT, FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS - THEN UPDATE VERSION IS OUT OF THE WAY - AND PROCEED AS NORMAL.

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INTRO

THE PLAYSTATION 3 HARD DRIVE FILLS UP RATHER FAST - WITH ONLY GAME DATA & GAME SAVES - NO PHOTOS, MOVIES, OTHER OPERATING SYSTEM, ETC.

OBVIOUSLY SONY FORESAW THIS, AND INCLUDED A REMOVABLE HARD DRIVE. THEY MADE IT SO SIMPLE ANYONE CAN DO IT- YOU DO NOT HAVE TO SPEND $'S FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO INSTALL IT. REPLACING THE HARD DRIVE DOES NOT VOID YOUR WARRANTY; THIS IS SPECIFIED IN YOUR MANUAL. 

THE PROCEDURE

1)        SELECT THE HARD DRIVE YOU WISH. FOR THIS EASY 4 MINUTE PROCEDURE, SELECT ANY 2.5" LAPTOP HARD DRIVE, SATA 5400 - 320GB, 500GB, +. A 7200 IS SUPPOSED TO WORK BUT THE HEAT PRODUCED FROM THIS FASTER DRIVE, COMBINED WITH THE HEAT PRODUCED FROM A LARGER DRIVE MAY CAUSE UNWANTED PROBLEMS. SONY USES SEAGATE ...THE 60GB THAT CAME WITH THE UNIT IS A SEAGATE 60GB 5400 W/CACHE 8MB. I USED THE 320GB 5400 W/CACHE 8 MB (320GB WAS THE OPTIMUM AT THE TIME). YOU MAY USE WHAT YOU LIKE; THE GB OF THE HARD DRIVE DOESN'T REALLY MATTER TOO MUCH SINCE A PS3 IS A PS3. I DID THIS FOR MY 80GB SYSTEM AS WELL. 

2)              REMOVING THE OLD DRIVE & INSTALLING NEW DRIVE.       SIMPLY UNPLUG EVERYTHING FROM THE UNIT - SO IT HAS NO POWER, ETC. FOLLOW THESE SIMPLE PROCEDURES:  AT ONE END YOU WILL SEE THE HDD PLASTIC PLATE. SIMPLY POP THIS OUT. YOU WILL SEE A BLUE SCREW - REMOVE THAT. POP THE LOOP HANDLE BY THAT SCREW, AND GRASP AND PULL ALL THE WAY TO THE RIGHT, THEN PULL IT OUT. YOU WILL HAVE THE CASING + HDD. REMOVE THE 4 SCREWS (1 AT EACH CORNER); SLIP OUT THE OLD DRIVE, SLIDE IN THE NEW, JUST HAVE IT FACING THE SAME WAY; REPLACE THE 4 SCREWS; PUSH THIS INTO THE BAY AT THE RIGHT, WHERE YOU REMOVED IT, MAKING SURE IT IS ALL THE WAY BACK, THEN PULL IT ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT, LOCKING IT IN PLACE; REPLACE THE BLUE SCREW; AND FINALLY REPLACE THE PLASTIC HDD COVER.

THAT IS IT.

YOU WILL GET A MESSAGE FOR REFORMATTING- DO THAT; AND ALL YOU SYSTEM SETTING AND EVERYTHING WILL BE AS IT WAS- JUST NOT YOUR GAME SAVES, GAME DATA, PHOTO'S, ETC. WILL NOT BE THERE. IF YOU WISH THESE, SIMPLY USE THE BACK-UP UTILITY TO COPY ANYTHING YOU WISH TO SAVE - GAMES, GAME SAVES, PHOTO'S, ETC.     *****  {THE COPYING WOULD BE DONE PRIOR TO REMOVING THE OLD HARD DRIVE}.   *****  SEE ALSO: ADDITIONAL (NEW) NOTE  - RE VERSION X.XX UPDATE MAY BE REQUIRED TO START UP THE SYSTEM.

THIS IS THE POINT YOU WOULD RE-INSTALL THE SAVED DATA. I FIND IT BETTER TO START FRESH - THE OLD GAMES YOU NEVER PLAY - YOU WILL PULL THEM OUT, AND REDISCOVER THE FUN, INSTEAD OF LEAVING THEM GATHERING DUST! 

YOU CAN GO TO THE PLAYSTATION STORE, AT TOP RIGHT IS YOUR DOWNLOADS. DOWNLOAD ALL YOUR PAID GAMES, UPGRADES, MAP PACKS, DEMOS, ETC, ETC.

NOW YOU HAVE LOTS OF SPACE FOR ALL YOU VIDEO GAMING NEEDS! ADD ACCESSORIES, MAYBE AN OPERATING SYSTEM ...

*   I DID THIS WITHOUT ANYTHING OTHER THAN REPLACING THE HARD DRIVE AND CLICKING REFORMAT HDD, THAT COMES UP AUTOMATICALLY ONCE POWERED UP. I KNOW OTHERS WHO HAVE ALSO USED THE BACK-UP UTILITY AND COPIED AND RE-INSTALLED ALL THEIR DATA (ABOUT 47GB). IN EITHER CASE, THE 320GB HARD DRIVE SHOWS ON THE PS3 SYSTEM INFORMATION AS 263/298GB. 

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*      THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS, USING A 3.5", PLUGGING IT INTO THE HDD BAY, AND HAVING A WIRE HANG OUT - IT WOULD BE LIKE AN EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE.