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How to Back Up a PlayStation 3 to a USB Stick

The PlayStation 3 has a back-up utility for copying files to a second source, such as a flash drive or memory card. It is possible to play games or videos, or view files, straight from the USB memory stick, though the load times tend to be longer. But to keep your files safe, you can perform a full back-up of the entire PS3 hard drive using a USB memory stick or other removable hard drive device. Doing so will protect files if the PS3 hard drive crashes. Use USB memory sticks, secure digital (SD) cards, MiniSD cards and CompactFlash cards for the back-up.

Things You'll Need

USB memory stick

Instructions

- 1
  Turn the power on the PS3 and let the media bar completely load. Place the USB memory stick into one of the USB ports on the PS3.
- 2
  Scroll across the categories of the media bar until "System" is highlighted. All sub-categories for "System" will become available on the screen. Scroll down through the sub-categories until "Settings" is highlighted.
- 3
  Highlight "System Settings" from the "Settings" categories. Highlight "Backup Utility" from the "Systems Settings." Highlight "Back Up" and press the X button.
- 4
  Choose the correct USB memory stick from the list of devices available to back-up the PS3 hard drive. This list becomes available after selecting "Back Up." If more than one external hard drive device is plugged into the PS3, all of them will be listed. Press the X button when the correct USB memory stick is highlighted.

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