I left the Applications box check and started the process.Īfter some five hours of constant checking, the PS4 was backed up. And so forth, I still had a serious chunk of apps, none of which I wanted to redownload. Even after deleting a few unneeded games, Alpha, Betas. Otherwise it's just Captures, Saved Data, and Settings. It's here where the PS4 assesses free space on the USB device.Īs shown in the screen below, there's only one option and that is whether or not Applications will be part of the back-up. I hit Ok, and got the Back Up PS4 screen. (It's at this point that the PS4 checks the USB device.) The PS4 let me know that all of the non PSN users accounts on the system can only be backed up this this specific PS4. Next, as described here, I connected the USB drive, and I went to System, Back Up and Restore, and selected Back Up PS4.
First, I went ahead and did a Trophy sync so that I would not lose any recent Trophies. Thus with the exFat drive in tow, I was ready to start.
A quick trip to a Windows 7 PC and I was able to Quick Format the drive to a PS4 friendly exFat format. The My Passport Ultra comes formatted in NTFS, which makes the PS4 frown with a little error message.
(The full update file is needed, which is available from the second Download Now button on this page.) But before I could even begin that procedure, I hit a snag. This 750MB file (from here) can take some time to download, so get it early. Likewise, a system update delivered via USB is required to get the PS4 back up to 2.50 after the hard drive installation. Backing up the 400GB of data off the PS4 took around 5 hours. The back-up and restore process of the PS4 is very painless with one important exception, time. A fine option, but I wanted a 7200RPM drive, so not for me.įirst word of warning. Another popular method would have been to get an external like this 2TB Seagate, disassemble it, and swap the 2TB enclosure drive for the 500GB PS4 drive. Part of my thinking here was getting a drive big enough for future back-ups and hard drive upgrades. For this I picked up a locally available 2TB USB 3.0 Western Digital My Passport Ultra. Next, I need an empty spare drive in order to store and transfer the back-up.
(Datasheet here.) Suffice to say that the speed, 32MB cache, pedigree, etc. While I was debating different options, a spare, unused 1TB 7200RPM HGST 7K1000 fell into my lap. First, I needed to get my hands on two important components, a new, larger drive, and a spare external drive with which to store and move the back-up. With the 2.50 System update, the ability to back-up and restore in now part of the PS4s toolset, and as such, I decided it was finally time to swap in a new drive. In my case, that would have meant having to redownload some 300-400GBs of data, which while doable, lacks the elegance of the back-up and restore method.
(There is no way to expand storage through an external drive like with the Xbox One and Wii U.) But until just recently, the PS4 was missing a key component that the PS3 has, a way to back-up and restore the full image. Like the preceding console, the PS3, Sony's idea with the PS4 hard drive space is that users are free to swap in a larger 2.5 inch (notebook size) drive. After all, with regular 25GB game installs, monthly PS Plus titles, tricky DLC management, captures and more to consume hard drive space, a 500GB drive gets tight quickly.
NOTE: This process should now feel almost identical to the longstanding PS3 HDD upgrade method.įor anyone who uses their PS4 regularly, the system's stock 500GB drive is only a starting point.