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How to Check FAT in PS3 Models

Sony's PlayStation 3 video game console lets you do much more than play video games; it also lets you listen to music, view pictures and watch movies stored directly on the device or stored on an external hard drive connected to it via USB. The PS3 only supports FAT32 formatted hard drives, however -- leaving NTFS and Mac OS Extended format users out in the cold. If you want to check to see if your hard drive is in FAT32 format using your PS3, you can do so by simply checking if the hard drive appears when you connect it to the system.

Instructions

- 1
  Connect the USB hard drive to one of the USB ports on your computer. Click the "Start" button in the computer's task bar and select the "Computer" option. Ensure that the external hard drive appears as a removable storage device icon in the "Computer" window. Doing so will ensure that the cables are functioning properly and the hard drive itself is not defective because, unlike the PS3 system, a computer will detect and display an external hard drive, regardless of format.
- 2
  Right-click on the hard drive's removable storage device icon and select the "Eject" option once you are sure the hard drive and its cables are functioning properly and disconnect the device from the computer.
- 3
  Turn on the PS3 system and plug the external hard drive into one of the USB ports on the front of the system.
- 4
  Scroll over to the "Photo," "Music" or "Video" section of the XrossMediaBar. These are the sections in which a FAT32 hard drive would appear.
- 5
  Scroll down to the bottom of your section of choice. If the hard drive's removable storage icon is visible, the hard drive is in FAT32 format. If the hard drive is not visible, the hard drive is not in FAT32 format.

PlayStation 3