Sony Now Allows You To Add External Drive To Ps4
PlayStation 4 system software update:
Sony adds many new features to its PS4 consoles through the newest major system software update: version 4.50.
- Experience the slicker and faster user interface tools.
- Enjoy the 3D Blu-ray movies in stereoscopic 3D through PS VR headset.
- Set users screenshots in game as the custom wallpapers.
- Send users best gameplay moments to the PlayStation Activity Feed directly.
Restore Your Data And Reinstall Your Games
You will need to log into your PlayStation account again, as if you were setting up a new PS4 for the first time. Before continuing, though, you need to restore the data you backed up by inserting the USB drive and heading to Settings > System > Back Up and Restore > Restore PS4.
If you backed up via PS Plus, head to Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in Online Storage > Download to System Storage instead.
You then need to re-download and/or re-install your games, but once thats done, you should be able to hop back in like you never leftand with shorter loading times getting you in to play as fast as possible.
An Internal Ps4 Hard Drive Is All In One Place
If you upgrade your PS4’s internal hard drive as opposed to using an external hard drive, you keep everything in one place.
This means that you won’t lose your PS4 hard drive, unlike with an external PS4 hard drive, which is quite compact and easy to misplace. You might remove it, only to forget where you placed it, leaving itwith all your precious game datalost forever.
An internal hard drive saves you that headache, and ensures that the only way you can lose it is if you lose your PS4, which isn’t going to be likely.
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How To Upgrade Your Ps4 Ps4 Slim And Ps4 Pro Hard Drive
Having a PS4 for over ten minutes means your hard drive will most likely be filled with games, screenshots and more. If you dont fancy using an external hard drive via USB then its easy to upgrade your existing one.
The PS4 can be as troublesome as a PSOne memory card when it comes to managing memory. Luckily, Sonys PS4 Slim can now be purchased with a hefty 1TB hard drive, which itself is super easy to upgrade. The PS4 Pro comes with a 1TB hard drive as standard, making the upgrade a little more enticing.
However, if youre still stuck with an older model, weve included an easy peasy walkthrough below to help you out.All you need is a compatible HDD, a Phillips-head screwdriver, a laptop, a USB drive with around 5GB of free space, and some patience.
Oh, and our handy step-by-step guide on how to upgrade your PS4 HDD.
Related: PS4 Pro vs PS4 should you upgrade?
Format Your Usb Drive And External Hard Drive
Note: you only need to format your external drive if you want to backup all your game data.
Format your USB drive and external hard drive in FAT32. On Mac, you can do that by hitting the erase button inside the Disk Utility app. Windows users need to right-click the drive in the My Computer window and select format.
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Choosing The Right Ps4 Internal Hard Drive Replacement
Many PS4 users keep asking about the best hard drive upgrade for PS4, not knowing how to pick the right one. In fact, the answer to that question is not the same for everyone. As depending on several factors concerning your personal situation, the best hard drive for PS4 is determined.
For instance, if youre just a lightweight/mediocre player, not an enthusiast, you better get a good drive only. Leave the extreme power for power users. You can get an external hard drive instead for PS4 if the consoles performance pleases you.
As for enthusiasts who play graphics-intense, resource-demanding games, the most powerful drive suits them better. They even get a powerful external hard drive for their PS4 alongside an internal hard drive upgrade.
You can learn more about all aspects you need in this regard before making up your mind on a specific drive in the above list. Just choose the drive you feel it best suits your needs, and remember to make reliability a priority.
Replacing Or Upgrading Your Ps4s Hard Drive
It is surprisingly easy to replace or upgrade your PS4s hard drive. The drive itself is a normal 2.5-inch hard drive, and you can replace it with any other 2.5-inch drive as long as its no taller than 9.5 millimeters and has a capacity of at least 160GB. Most modern 2.5-inch HDDs, and almost all SSDs, have a height of 9.5mm or less.
If youre looking for a large hard drive, the 1-terabyte Samsung Spinpoint M8 is a pretty safe bet. Samsung has announced a 2TB Spinpoint M9, but it hasnt yet hit the market. If you want an SSD, the 160GB minimum requirement means that youll probably be opting for either a 256GB or 512GB drive. Here in the ExtremeTech bunker, were partial to the Samsung 840 Pro .
A close-up of the PS4 hard drive caddy, showing the special screw engraved with the PlayStation symbols
With your new hard drive or SSD acquired, its now time to remove the old drive from your PS4. Lay the PS4 flat. Slide off the shiny section . The hard drive is right there, in a fairly normal-looking caddy. There is one screw with the iconic PlayStation button symbols unscrew it. Slide the drive caddy out, unscrew the screws holding the drive in, and then carefully pop the drive out. Screw your new drive in, slide the caddy in, and finally replace that fancy screw.
If you need help with upgrading or replacing your PS4 hard drive, the video embedded above can walk you through the process.
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How To Install An Ssd In A Playstation 4 Pro
Swapping out the hard drive on the PlayStation 4 Pro is very similar to doing so with its predecessor, albeit with a few minor differences. Luckily, those changes actually make the process easier. Plus, you can take advantage of SATA III speeds, so long as youre armed with the proper equipment. You can check our SATA guide if youre interested in further information. The steps for doing this with the PlayStation 4s newer Slim model are very similar, but if you need images to help, PlayStation has information for that specific system on its website.
To install a new hard drive on a PS4 Pro, you still need a Phillips-head screwdriver, a pair of USB flash drives, and a 2.5-inch SSD larger than 160GB, and up to 9.5mm thick. Remember that if you have a PlayStation Plus account, you can back up your save data in the cloud, which can take the place of one of the two flash drives.
With your save files backed up, now youre ready to perform some surgery on your PS4.
Three: Format The External Hard Drive To Exfat
Please pay attention to the PS4 external hard drive format: youll need to format the external drive which will be used to work with the PS4 or PS4 Pro to the exFATfile system.
Note:
Why do you need to format PS4 internal hard drive?
The PS4 internal hard drive format can only be conducted inside the PlayStation. Definitely, the format process must be completed before you can use a new PlayStation. In addition to this, you can also reformat the internal hard drive in the following situations:
- The speed of PS4 is decreasing quickly.
- The performance of the PS4 hard drive is degraded.
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Four: Freeing Up The Caddy
On the regular PS4 you’ll notice the hard drive is not yet in full view. There’s one screw we need to unscrew to release the frame that holds the hard drive, using a Phillips screwdriver.
It’s the largest one on the metal surface you’ll see, and is inlaid with the classic PlayStation button icons.
Once the screw is removed, you can just pull the drive caddy out horizontally from the PS4’s body.
To replace the hard drive in the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, you’ll just need to unscrew the single screw that holds the caddy in place.
You will then be able to slide out the hard drive caddy.
Get A Performance A Storage Boost Replacing The Ps4 Slim Hard Drive
The new PS4 Slim may be slimmer than its predecessor, but you can still replace the hard drive. Replacing the drive is one of the easiest methods Ive seen on a console. If you are looking for more storage or more speed upgrading, the stock hard drive is one way to increase performance. All you need to do is follow the steps below:
Tools You Will Need:
- Hard Drive or SSD replacement
- USB Flash drive
Steps In Order
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What If I Need To Replace My Hard Drive
First, plug in your computer and turn it on. On HP computers, press the Esc key multiple times after startup. The start menu appears with the option to open the start menu. Follow the instructions to partition, format and install Windows on a new hard drive. You may be prompted to restart your computer.
How To Format Ps4 Hard Drive For Windows 7/8/10 Windows Pc
If you have just upgraded your PS4 hard drive, you might have already noticed that it does not show up in Windows Explorer upon connecting it to your computer. The main reason behind this is that Windows does not recognize the format that is used by PS4.
If you wish to make it work on your computer, the existing partition must be removed, and you need to create a whole new partition that Windows will recognize. The following steps are described as per the structure of Windows 10. However, the process is the same in Windows 8 and 7. Moreover, you do not have to install a third-party tool for any reason.
Step 1 Connect PS4 hard drive to the computer via SATA cable. Then, simultaneously press Windows+X, then select Disk Management.
Step 2 On opening the Windows built-in disk manager, you may find more than 10 partitions in the disk panel. All youâve got to do is, Right-click on each partition and choose Delete Volume in the drop-down list, and click Yes in the pop-up windows that appear on the screen.
Step 3 Up next, Right-click the unallocated part, then click on New Simple Volume in the drop-down list.
Step 4 Finally, Set the File system, Allocation unit size, and Volume label on the pop window. This time, youâll set the file system as exFAT, set allocation unit size as âDefaultâ, and give it a preferred name in the volume label. Also, tick the checkbox of both options below, then, click on OK to format the PS4 hard drive.
Note!
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Replace The Hard Drive
- Completely power off your PS4 Pro by holding down the PS button on the DualShock 4 controller, scrolling down to Power, and selecting the option to shut down.
- Unplug all cables, including the power jack, from the unit. On the back, left-hand side of the console, youll see a hard plastic cover. Apply moderate force to the cover and pull it off.
- Using your Phillips-head screwdriver, loosen the PlayStation-branded screw that keeps the hard drive tray locked in place. Save it in a safe place youll need it during reassembly later.
- Gently pull the tray out of the console. Next, using your Phillips screwdriver, unscrew the four screws holding the stock hard drive in the tray. Take great care not to scratch or drop the hard drive in the process.
- Take your new hard drive and place it in the tray. Align the four corners of the drive with the holes in the tray. Then screw in each of the four drive tray screws until the new hard drive is snugly in place.
- Ensure that the SATA connectors are aligned with the console , and then slowly slide the drive tray back in.
- With the last and largest screw, secure your new drive to the PS4 Pros chassis. Finish up by putting the plastic cover back in place so that the drive bay is not exposed.
Recommended: Upgrade Hdd/ssd With The Disk Cloning Tool
EaseUS Disk Copy allows you to clone and upgrade the hard drive to a new disk without any complex operations. And it’s fully compatible with all Windows systems. This disk cloning software can even help to update and clone a hard drive to a bigger HDD/SSD. Try to upgrade your disk with the below guidelines now:
Step 1: Choose “Disk mode” and select the smaller hard drive as the source disk.
Step 2: Choose the bigger hard drive to save the data and then click “Next”.
Step 3: A warning message tells you that the data on the destination disk will be overwritten. Click OK to continue if you do not have important data on the destination disk.
Step 4: Edit the disk layout and then click “Proceed” to continue.
- “Autofit the disk” resize the layout on destination disk according to the size of it to make the disk as the best status.
- “Copy as the source” doesnt change anything on destination disk and the layout is same as source disk.
- “Edit disk layout” allows you to manually resize/move partition layout on this destination disk.
Step 5: Wait for the process to complete.
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How To Format Ps4 Hdd As Extended Storage
To format your hard drive as PS4 expansion storage, go to Settings > Devices > USB Drives. Select the USB storage device you want to format and select Format as extended storage.
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Remove The Old Ps4 Hard Drive
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Two: System Of Playstation 4 Should Be Version 450 Or Later
The system of your PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 4 Pro must be updated to version 4.50 or later. That is simply because Sony added the external HDD support to PS4 when the 4.50 version was released early in 2017.
If you have an older system on your PS4, youll need to update it to the latest version before you can add a PS4 hard drive externally.
Enjoy Your New Ps4 Storage Space Whether Internal Or External
An upgraded internal hard drive will do wonders for your PS4, especially if you’ve maxed out your current one. It’s a great feeling to not have to delete games installed on your PS4 just to free up space, as well as boot-up games much quicker than before.
Whether you choose to upgrade with an internal or external hard drive, it’s a decision your PS4 will appreciate.
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Seven: Download The Ps4 Software
Now you have a PS4 with a completely blank memory. The console’s OS is stored on the hard drive you just removed, and the drive inside your console is completely blank.
You need to download the software in standalone form, using another computer. You’ll find it over at the PlayStation website, and it takes up around a gigabyte at present.
Youll need a USB drive or external hard drive or SSD with enough space to hold the download, and it must be formatted using the FAT32 file system and installed into the correct folder full instructions are available on the PlayStation website. Press and hold the PS4s power button for seven seconds or until you hear two beeps to boot the PS4 into safe mode.
You can then connect your controller with a USB cable and select option seven to reinstall your system software. Then, once thats done, you can restore your backup file and your PS4 should be back to normal, albeit with a newer, better hard disk or SSD.