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How to Play Backups on a PS3

Your PlayStation 3 may have died, or you may have upgraded to a new hard drive or console. Before you upgrade, you can back up your games and saves onto an external hard drive or flash drive. When you have your new PS3 up and running, games can be retrieved from backup and played on your PlayStation 3 with your old saves, meaning you won't lose any progress or need to re-download large game files from the PlayStation Network Store.

Things You'll Need

USB drive or external hard drive
PlayStation 3
PSN account

Instructions

- 1
  Insert the USB drive or external hard drive with your backup game data into the USB port on the front of your PlayStation 3. Power on the console.
- 2
  Scroll to "PlayStation Network." Scroll down to "Sign In" and press "X."
- 3
  Input your email address and PSN password. You will need to be logged in to your account for some games to be playable.
- 4
  Select "Account Management" from the "PlayStation Network" heading and press "X." Choose "System Activation" and press "X." Re-enter your PSN password.
- 5
  Scroll down to "Games" and choose "Yes" to activate the console to play games you have downloaded from the PlayStation Network, including your backups.
- 6
  Press "Circle" to return to the cross media bar.
- 7
  Scroll to "Settings" on the cross media bar. Scroll down to "System Settings" and press "X." Select "Backup Utility" and press "X."
- 8
  Choose "Restore" and press "X." All your backup content will be transferred to your PlayStation 3.
- 9
  Return to the cross media bar and scroll to "Game." Scroll down to your newly restored backups and press "X" to begin playing the game.

PlayStation 3