Feb 16, 2018 - Most USB flash drive users do not ever think to format their drives. We've provided step by step instructions for both PC and MAC users below! You won't see FAT or FAT32 if your drive is larger than 32GB.
Along with ' when's Home out?' And 'why is there never anything good on the European Store?' , questions like 'Why doesn't my flash drive work with my PS3?' And 'How do I format my USB hard drive to work with the PS3?' Are among some of the most commonly asked questions on these forums. So I thought I'd put together a ( hopefully) foolproof guide on how to do it.
Hope it helps. Pretty much all USB storage devices (flash drives, USB sticks, USB drives, whatever you want to call them) will work with the PlayStation 3. However, not all of them will work straight out of the box. If you've just bought a band new drive, plugged it into the PS3 and it's not being detected, the most likely problem is that it is not 'formatted' correctly. The difference between the formats isn't really important here, all you need to know is that the PS3 needs the drive to be in a format called 'FAT32' (ridiculous as it sounds) and most modern flash drives come pre-formatted to a format called 'NTFS'.
Here is what you need to do to change the format of a USB drive. But firstly, a few notes. • If you're drive is 32GB or larger, please go straight to the.
• The method for doing this on Windows XP or Windows Vista is nearly identical. This guide covers both systems and I will note where any notable differences are • The guide does not cover Mac OSX, Linux or any other operating system • The language in the guide is as non-techy as I could make it. Sorry if you find it a bit patronising • Formatting can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing.
Always back-up your data • I am not responsible for any loss of data or damage to equipment caused as a result of using this guide EDIT: Right, it seems the first two methods I mentioned don't work for everyone, so I have now added a third method which requires you to download a free and simple little app called, predictably, FAT32 Formatter. See the 'If all else fails' post below for more details. Thanks to for the software recommendation!:) ** Click on the images to see them full-size ** Okay, on with the guide: • Plug the flash drive into an available USB port on your PC • Go to 'My Computer' (XP) or 'Computer' (Vista) • Back-up any data you have on the USB drive already by copying it to you desktop or another folder on your PC.
• Right-click on the USB drive you just inserted and select 'Format.' From the menu. Reduce ping app for mac. If you are not sure which drive it is, unplug it and plug it back in again to see which drive re-appears. If you are still not sure, do not continue with this guide. • Select 'FAT32' from the 'File system' drop-down menu. If you have not got that option, don't worry, click 'Close' use the Alternate Method below.
• If you wish, you may give the drive a name of up to 12 letters. Enter this in the 'Volume label' field • Ensure that you leave all of the other settings as their defaults, then click the 'Start' button • You see that warning? It's not lying to you! Formatting will erase everything on the drive. If you are not sure that you've selected the right drive, or if you have anything on there that you need, click 'Cancel' now. If everything's fine, click 'OK' to continue.
• Formatting may take some time depending on the size of your drive. Formatting my 4GB drive on Vista took about 4 minutes. Do not interrupt this process or shut down your computer while it is running. • You'll get a message box telling you when it's done. Click 'OK' then 'Close' to finish. Your drive is now FAT32 formatted and should work with the PS3.
Except if it isn't. In which case see the next post. If all else fails: If the first two methods didn't work I'm guessing you have a hard drive larger than 32GB? Windows sometimes struggles with drives of this size, even when using the 'Alternate method'. You will need to use some free, really easy to use software.