Swapping HDD's in my PS3 - backup utility and other related Q's

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djskribbles

Legend
i already replaced the HDD in my PS3 with an 80GB, but i'm planning on replacing that with a 160GB HDD. i haven't used the backup utility before, so i have some questions. basically, what can you backup? saved games, media and settings? are you able to backup all saved games?

also, what about items you've purchased from the PStore? the only thing i've bought off the PStore, were some songs my sister got for that american idol karaoke game. i tried to re-download them, but i was unable to do so... maybe because they're installed?
 
If my memory still serve me, it backs up everything. I had to remove some PSN games because my backup drive wasn't big enough. After restore, I redownloaded them from the store.

I think there is already a similar thread from before. xboxdestroya and a couple of others posted their experiences. You might want to search for it.


EDIT: I can't find that thread. So here's posting from memory:

* I am not sure if the PSN setup information (e.g., your credit card number) is backup'ed. You may have to re-enter your account info after restore. Once your account has been created, you should be able to download purchased games from the Store. I am not sure about songs, you may want to ask the publisher.

* During restore, your (local) Playstation account will be copied to the new HDD. If you have another account with the same name in the new HDD, a new account "User N" (where N is an integer) will be created with everything restored in it.
 
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If you're restoring to the same PS3, most everything is restored. If you're restoring to a different PS3, account data is not restored.

But please, please, also do a manual backup of your game saves and PS2/1 memory cards. Preferably even on an entirely different media than what you're doing the complete backup with. You never no if the backup is corrupt or not until you try to restore it. At which point, the restore won't go through, and then it formats your drive because of the corrupt restore (so you can't test it beforehand).
 
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I mirrors the drive basically, it even saved my partially downloaded demo which completed after the swap. Pretty impressive backup utility.
 
The store will let you download again, no worries there. When I swapped my drive (mind you this was early on), I was definitely confused at first - to the extent that I even called Sony up - but the idea is not that you seek them out in the store anew, but that you visit your account via 'View Downloads.'

This all seems pretty straightforward now with the new store, but for some reason I remember it as being more complex. :p

As far as the rest of the backup, I transfered game saves to a USB drive, and getting them back on was no problem. I've bought an external USB drive enclosure for future efforts, but at the time I just moved video and audio anew from their original sources and didn't bother with backing them up per se.
 
I've just installed a 250Gb HD in my PS3, which has taken an insanely long time to back up a mere 39Gb of data. It's also taking forever to restore. Any ideas as to why it takes so long? Oh an I have 205Gb available!
 
Hmm... I don't remember it being very long for my 20Gb -> 60Gb upgrade. Perhaps it needs to run some security programs to lock down your HDD ? How long was it for 250Gb ? I may want to upgrade too in the near future.
 
Some tips:
* if u r backing up to media with little space, dont forget deleting F@H, and game data, BD-data as they are easy to miss
* take it easy with the screws for the HDD-drive, I swapped one HDD and two of the screws were then so used that I couldnt unscrew them (of course the screw driver is a bit to blame but the screws are very cheap)
 
I backed up onto a brand new WD external 500Gb HD (bought just for the PS3 as an external). The back up from a 60Gb to the WD took a shade over 2 hours, the restore is about 1.5 hours (41 minutes to go). I didn't delete anything, just did a system backup. But it was still only 39Gb, even a straight copy wouldn't have taken that long!

Formatting the drive took seconds!
 
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i don't have that much stuff on my PS3 right now, so hopefully i can use the 20GB HDD that came with my PS3 to backup my data. i bought an external 2.5" enclosure, but doing some research, not all enclosures will work for the ps3 as the usb ports don't give out as much power as a PC would; you need an HDD that requires less than 0.5a, but mine uses 0.62a. the enclosure i bought has a Y usb cable to draw power from two ports, so hopefully it works. otherwise, i don't know what ill use to backup my stuff. the biggest drive i have is an 8GB USB drive.

now i have to wait for my HDD to come (was on back order).
 
Does anyone know if you have to send your ps3 to sony for repair/replacement, will they accept it hdd-less?

I know it won't boot up without one, but if it's going to their repair centre they'll have hdd's laying around to check for faulty ones ... wont they?

Reason being, when I get a ps3 & swap the hdd I was thinking of selling the included one to my mate for cheap so he can use it in his laptop.
 
im happy to report that the backup/restore feature worked very well. simply backup, swap the HDD, and restore. my ps3 is exactly the same as it was before, settings and all. i didn't even have to re-download anything (purchased content, demos etc.).
 
Figured this thread could work.

Here's the deal, my house got hit by lightning on Sunday evening and fried a bunch of stuff. One of them being my PS3. It got fried via the HDMI cable that was plugged into the TV that also got fried. I try to keep my power hungry electronics unplugged when not in use, and the surge protector it was plugged into, was not plugged into any outlet.

I now get no video output. It seems like it boots up properly. I tried standard RCA and still no dice.

Is there a way I can recover all my data, and stuff I have purchased (RB songs, PSN games, etc)? Do I just take the HD out, and copy that over to a new system? Or just put the HD in my new PS3?

Any thoughts?
 
Have you tried a configuration reset when using the RCA cables? (As in, touching the power button to start, and continued touching until you hear a second beep?) Usually in similar situations for me this has restored default output settings, enabling the RCA. In this case your HDD wouldn't necessarily be fried.

You may have tried this already though for all I know, and the problem could be more extensive.
 
Tried that again just in case, and still didn't work. It looks like upon further review there won't be a problem re-downloading all my purchased Rock Band songs and PSN stuff. I hope that goes smoothly. Insurance is covering a new PS3.
 
So I'm off to purchase a new PS3. I found out the HDMI was damaged when we got hit. Tried on multiple displays, and multiple resets and same issue. It does work over the PS RCA cables so it's not an entire issue with the PS3. I will send it in for repair I guess if they cover failed video output and not Acts of God. :)

With that said, when I get my new PS3, can I just put the old HD in the new one, and not have to re-download all my purchased content? I couldn't find anything definitive in regards to being able to recover ALL my PSN and Rock Band purchases. All signs seem to point to yes, but I couldn't confirm.

Any thoughts or suggestions on maintaining my data, or being able to recover it?
 
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