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How to Format a PS2 Hard Drive

A 40GB hard drive was released as an optional accessory for the Sony PlayStation 2 console. Final Fantasy XI was the only game that required the user have a hard drive to play. This was because the game was a massively, multiplayer, online, role-playing game that needed storage space to download updates and patches. Formatting a PS2 hard drive erases every file from the hard drive and completely installs the PS2 hard drive software. This effectively returns the PS2 hard drive to the original factory specifications. This is a maintenance procedure that should only be done as a last resort if the hard drive is not functional.

Things You'll Need

Hard Drive Utility Disc

Instructions

- 1
  Turn on the PlayStation 2 console with the hard drive utility disc inserted into the disc drive. The help screen showing the menu controls will appear.
- 2
  Press the “X” button on the controller to exit the help screen. The hard drive utility menu will appear.
- 3
  Select “Format HDD” from the utility menu. An explanation of the process to format the PS2 hard drive will appear on the screen. This explanation is spread across three screens of text.
- 4
  Press right on the direction pad twice to scroll to the end of the format explanation.
- 5
  Press the “X” button to indicate you want to format the PS2 hard drive. A confirmation prompt will appear.
- 6
  Select “Yes” on the confirmation prompt. A second confirmation prompt will appear.
- 7
  Select “Yes” on the second confirmation prompt. The system will begin formatting the PS2 hard drive.
- 8
  Wait for the system to finish formatting the hard drive. A confirmation message will appear on the screen once this process is complete.

PlayStation 2