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How to Change the Hard Drives in a PS3

The Sony PlayStation 3 is a very versatile media machine that gives you access to a wealth of content including games, movies, and music. Every PS3 comes standard with a hard drive used to store all of your game data, downloaded movies, and music. These hard drives range in capacity from 20GB to 250GB. The PS3 makes use of a standard 2.5-inch SATA hard drive, just like the ones found in notebook computers. Swapping the hard drives is easy and can add limitless storage capacity to your PS3.

Things You'll Need

PS3
Replacement 2.5-inch SATA hard drive (any size)
Screwdriver

Instructions

- 1
  Turn off your PS3, flip off the main power switch in the back, and unplug the power cord.
- 2
  Remove the HDD bay cover. This can be found on the left side of the PS3 and will be labeled with a sticker that reads, ̶0;Detach this cover when removing the hard disk.̶1;
- 3
  Remove the blue screw and raise the metal handle. The hard disk will now be able to simply slide out.
- 4
  Remove the four screws from the hard disk itself to detach it from the metal frame. Now the old hard drive is out and you can replace it with your new one.
- 5
  Reattach your new hard disk to the metal frame, screwing in the four screws.
- 6
  Slide the hard drive back into the PS3, replacing the metal handle and screwing back in the blue screw.
- 7
  Reattach the HDD bay cover.
- 8
  Turn on your PS3. You will be prompted to start the initial setup. Follow the on-screen instructions to reinstall the system software.

PlayStation 3