Learn How to Copy PS3 HDD to New HDD

Why copy PS3 HDD to new HDD?

PS3 is the abbreviation for PlayStation 3 which is a home game console as well as a powerful media center that was released by Sony Corp 15 years ago. It was the first console to use Blu-ray Disc as its primary storage medium and the first PlayStation to integrate social gaming services.

Although PS3 did not show the dominant performance like PS2 in terms of sales as the successor to PlayStation 2, with exclusive game masterpieces such as "The Last of Us", "Uncharted 1,2,3" series, and "God of War 3", many nostalgic gamers still keep or have an idea to collect a PS3. 

However, we can't ignore the effect of the PS4 and PS5, lots of gamers have turned to newer consoles. What's more, Sony officially announced that PS3 had been completely discontinued in the Japanese market in 2017, there has been some piece news that digital stores will be shut down in recent years, which lead to the price of used games of PS3 surge.

No matter it's true or not, there's a great possibility that the PS3 store will be limited, therefore, it might be the best time for users to set about collecting PS3 and those impressive games. 

PS3 comes with a small-sized hard drive in the early times since all hard drives were produced in small sizes years ago. After you finally find your old PS3 from a dark corner of your house, you may find there is not much space for you to install excellent games at all, even after you delete all unnecessary files.

Therefore, enlarging disk space for storing more memorable games would be the best choice for a PS3 hard drive upgrade. Now the prices of large-sized HDDs are affordable, if you have an idea to make a PS3 hard drive replacement now, you can start to think about how to copy PS3 HDD to a new HDD.

▶ Tip: The new HDD that can be used in PS3 should be a 2.5-inch SATA drive of 9.5mm in height.

How to copy PS3 hard drive to new hard drive?

▌Solution1: transfer data from PS3 hard drive to new hard drive via the Backup & Restore utility

You may complete this solution using an external hard drive. Theoretically, you can back the PS3 hard drive up to the external hard drive and later restore the backup image from the external drive.

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your PS3.

To do so, connect the hard drive's USB cable to the PS3's USB port. The PS3's USB ports are on the front side of the console.

Step 2. Using the Backup Utility.

Go Settings box > System Settings > press the cross-like button to enter in.

Step 3. Enter Backup Utility.

Go Backup Utility and press the aforementioned button to enter. Then you’ll see three options: Backup, Restore, and Delete Backup Data in this window. This time, you need to choose Backup. Then start to back up your PS3 to the external drive.

After the backup process is finished, you may go to the three options window by repeating the above steps and then selecting Restore there to recover it to the new hard drive.

▶ Tip: A new disk has to be formatted, partitioned, initialized before you can use it, and the external hard drive should be formatted to FAT32 as well to be recognized by the PS3 system.

▌Solution2: Copy PS3/PS4/PS5 hard drive to a new drive via a handy tool

You can copy PS3 HDD to another directly with the help of a Windows OS-based PC. This is helpful when you don’t have an external hard drive in hand or when the first solution won’t work, and this would reduce the time of backing PS3 up.

AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is an expert in disk/partition manager which can clone the whole disk or a single partition with easy operations. And this program supports all Windows PC operating systems including Windows 11,10, 8, 7, Vista, and Windows XP. It has a user-friendly and neat interface that is suitable for both novices and experts.

▶ Note: Please backup all important data including games before you start. Inappropriate operations are likely to cause data loss. So if you are unfamiliar with practical operations, take these actions with caution.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Click "Clone" in the main interface and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Select original disk.

Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".

Step 3. Choose destination disk.

Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Choose the method.

Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to “Sector to Sector clone”, and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.

Step 5. Confirm your operation.

At last, click "Apply" and "Proceed" in the main interface to start cloning the hard drive.

There is a piece of final confirmation information next to this step, click Proceed to continue. After completing, you’ll see the following window. The copy time depends on the size of your PS3 hard drive.

Bonus tips

All you have to do is disconnect the new HDD from your PC and install it on your PS3 by reversing the process you did on the old hard drive. As for the old PS3 hard drive, you can use it as a backup, or wipe the hard drive securely for other usages.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a specialized partitioning software designed for Windows operating systems. Apart from copying PS3 or PS4 hard drive, it has more effective features in computer maintenance. For example, you can install Windows 10 on an external hard drive with the help of this software. Besides, it is possible to shrink C drive beyond half in AOMEI Partition Assistant and make a Windows to Go USB to run your OS wherever you'd like to.

FAQs about how to copy ps3 hard drive to new HDD

Can I use any HDD to replace my PS3 HDD?
No, you cannot use just any HDD. The new HDD must meet specific requirements, including the correct physical size (2.5-inch SATA drive) and capacity. Check your PS3 model's maximum supported storage capacity as well.

Can I perform the HDD copy using the PS3 itself, or do I need a computer?
You will need a computer to perform the HDD copy. The process involves creating a backup on an external drive, swapping the HDD, and then restoring the backup to the new HDD using a computer.

What software or tools do I need to copy my PS3 HDD?
You'll need the following: a backup utility on your PS3, a SATA to USB adapter or enclosure for your new HDD, and a backup and restore software.