Clone PS3/PS4 Hard Drive: The Ultimate Guide

I. What is PS3/PS4?

The full name of PS3 is PlayStation 3, and the full name of PS4 is PlayStation 4. They are both home video game consoles produced by Sony. Users can use PS3/PS4 to download a variety of games without worrying about the compatibility of games and devices; PS3/PS4 supports multiple people to play games online together, and can play Netflix, Hulu, YouTube videos, as well as DVD, CD and Blu-ray movies. However, the PS3 was released earlier in November 2006. PS4 is the sequel model of PlayStation 3, which was first released in November 2013. Although PS5 has been launched in November 2020, many users are still using PS3/PS4.

PS3/PS4 devices contain hard disk devices for users to store system and game data, etc. Since the hard disk has a service life, when the hard disk has been used for a long time or its service life is almost exhausted, some failures may occur, resulting in damage or loss of data in the hard disk. In order to protect the game data of PS3/PS4 devices, it is recommended that you replace the hard disk in time when there are some failures in the hard disk. Replacing the hard disk does not necessarily require re-downloading various game data. You can use the hard disk cloning technology to migrate the data in the PS3/PS4 hard disk to a new hard disk. The cloned hard disk is exactly the same as the original hard disk.

It should be noted that if you want to install the new hard drive into the PS3/PS4 device after cloning, please check the size of the hard drive that matches the PS3/PS4 device and the supported hard drive brand to avoid hard drive replacement failure. For example, the hard drives supported by PS3/PS4 devices are all 2.5-inch hard drives, and the thickness does not exceed 9.5 mm. The interface of the PS3 mainframe is SATA I (150 MB/s). When choosing the hard disk to be replaced, you can choose the hard disk of SATA II (300MB/s), and the capacity does not exceed 1TB, because some users report that after replacing the hard disk larger than 1TB, the PS3 cannot be used.

While the standard PS4 hard drive is a 500GB 5400 RPM SATA II hard drive, you can replace the hard drive with any hard drive that meets these standards, is up to 9.5mm thick and larger than 160GB, and of course you can upgrade to a faster 7200 RPM SATA II hard drive. Note that SATA II is sometimes called SATA/300 or SATA 3.0GBps, while newer SATA III (SATA/600) drives will work fine in the PS4, but the hard drive will still run at SATA II speeds.

For how to choose the hard disk of PS3/PS4 equipment, you need to search the corresponding articles on the Internet to learn more information before making a choice. The following is an introduction to the specific operation of disassembling and cloning a hard disk, let’s go and learn together.

II. How to clone PS3/PS4 hard drive?

Before cloning the PS3/PS4 hard drive, you need to remove the PS3/PS4 hard drive first, connect the hard drive to the computer through an external hard drive box for hard drive cloning, and then install the new hard drive back into the PS3/PS4 device.

1. Remove the PS3/PS4 hard drive

① Prepare a Phillips screwdriver and turn the PS3 device to the back. Find a small black box, open the cover of the small box, and you can see a screw inside.

② Use a screwdriver to remove the screw.

③ Afterwards, remove the strip cover on the side of the device (near the removed screws), and you can see the PS3 hard drive.

④ Pull out the hard disk bracket from the PS3 device, and use a screwdriver to remove the screws on the hard disk bracket to separate the hard disk from the bracket. Then use the external hard disk box to connect the PS3 hard disk to the computer for cloning operation.

① Turn the PS4 device over to the back. Use your fingers to lightly press the left cover and slide it to the left to remove the hard drive cover.

② Use a small screwdriver to remove the screw at the lower left corner and keep it safe.

③ Pull down the hard drive bracket inside the PS4 device.

④ Use a screwdriver to remove the four screws on the hard disk bracket to separate the hard disk from the bracket. Then use the external hard disk box to connect the PS4 hard disk to the computer for cloning operation.

2. Use Renee Becca to clone PS3/PS4 hard drive

Renee Becca is a tool specially used for system/hard disk data backup and restoration. It can help you back up and restore important data in your computer, such as programs, system configuration, emails, photos, videos, documents, bookmarks, etc. In addition, you can also use it to clone disk and system data. The software provides three cloning methods, including hard disk cloning/cloning system hard disk; partition cloning and system migration. You can choose the most suitable cloning method according to your different needs.

It is very simple to clone a hard drive with the help of Renee Becca, the specific steps are as follows:

Step 1: Connect the disassembled PS3/PS4 hard disk to the computer through an external hard disk box, then download, install and run Renee Becca, and select the (hard disk clone/clone system hard disk) option in the main interface (clone) column.

Step 2: Next, select the PS3/PS4 hard drive to be cloned and the pre-replaced hard drive in the (Source) and (Destination) windows of the “Disk Clone” window. You can click the (Options) button in the lower left corner to confirm whether it is checked Ignore bad sectors (Generally, it is checked by default. After this option is checked, the software will use intelligent algorithms to read readable data in bad sectors as much as possible. When the data in bad sectors cannot be read, it will be ignored). Finally, click the (Clone) button to execute the command to clone the hard disk. Cloning the hard disk will overwrite the data on the target hard disk, please make a file backup in advance.