Home >> Internet Games >> PlayStation 3

How to Make a Full Copy of a PS3 Hard Drive

The Sony PlayStation 3 (PS3) stores most of the user's data on the built-in hard drive. Some users may wish to make a full copy of the PS3 hard drive. This function can be performed using the built-in Backup Utility. This utility will make a backup copy of virtually all the data on the hard drive. In some rare cases, there is no way to copy some data from the PS3 hard drive. This problem is due to digital rights management restrictions that prevent the data from being transferred.

Things You'll Need

Sony PlayStation 3 console
USB storage device (flash drive, USB hard drive, etc), memory stick, or SD memory card

Instructions

- 1
  Connect the storage device to which the backup copy of the PS3 hard drive will be transferred through the Backup Utility. USB storage devices are inserted into the USB port on the console. Memory card storage devices are inserted into the memory card slot. The storage device must have enough storage space to hold all of the contents of the PS3 hard drive.
- 2
  Turn on the PS3 console. The XMB home menu will appear.
- 3
  Scroll to the "Settings" tab. This is the toolbox icon. Settings menu options will appear above and below the toolbox icon.
- 4
  Select "System Settings" from the Systems tab. Press the "X" button on the controller to make menu selections. A submenu will appear.
- 5
  Select "Backup Utility" from the submenu.
- 6
  Select "Backup" from the Backup Utility menu. The PS3 will begin to make a backup copy of the hard drive onto the storage device. A full copy of the PS3 hard drive will be on the storage device once the progress bar on the screen is complete.

PlayStation 3