Transferring to another PS3

[Beast.]

Alright I am going to get a new PS3 Slim within the next two days. Could someone kind of give me an ultimate guide for transferring stuff. Mainly things I want to know are:
-Can I transfer save data through USB?
-Can you have the same Gamer Tag on two PS3s?

Any other information you guys cold give would be 200% appreciated.

P.S. Yes I posted about this I think a little while ago, but due to reasons I couldn't get the PS3 and this has a different issue.

Thanks in advance.

[Coleman]

First of all:

The only things you should need to send to a USB thumb drive, or external HD or something is save files. Go into the save files folder, and you can manually copy them. Fair warning, some files won't copy, I backed up all my save files, and the one thing that wouldn't transfer were mostly PSN games, but I don't have many retail games so I'm not sure.

When you sign on the new PS3, just sign in with your old name and you'll have all your trophies, you can go into the PSN Store and redownload any games/add-ons or whatever you've downloaded.

Then you'll just have to reinstall game data for specific games. And you're good to go.

[Beast.]

Thank you. Just to clarify: I can have a online name on two ps3s?

[madman]

Yeah, you shouldn't have to get a new name so long as you remember your password. When I swapped harddrives in my ps3 everything went smooth. Not sure if there'd be a problem if you tried to sign in from two different systems at the same time though.

[sabbat7001]

Two PS3s are not a problem. You'll obviously only be able to sign into the same account on one system at a time. If you attempt to do so you whichever one you signed into first will simple be signed out. Make sure you synch your profile so all your trophies are stored online too.

As Coleman said, some save data is non-transferable. Rock Band 2, Ranbow 6 Vegas 2, Call of Juarez:Bound in Blood, Wolfenstein and FEAR2 are some examples but there are others. I have no idea why this is the case. I thought the entire point of having save files and a removable HDD was to able to back up and save data but I guess not.

Finally, as far as a device to transfer the data goes, another option is an iPod. I have a 120gb Classic and it worked great for the job.

[madman]

You can back up those "protected" save files... but only if you do a full harddrive backup using Sony's special backup utility... which is unfortunately out of the question for me because I put in a 320 gb harddrive and it wants to back up everything... I don't have another external drive big enough to back up my entire PS3.

This worries me a little bit because I've had some flaky issues with the PS3 where it freezes and I can't get it to work again right away. So far I've been lucky enough that I haven't had a completely unrecoverable problem yet, but... we'll see...

[sabbat7001]

Originally Posted by madman

You can back up those "protected" save files... but only if you do a full harddrive backup using Sony's special backup utility...

I wish that was the case. I don't want to be the contrary douche but experience has taught me that it is not the case. 3 times now I have done a complete system back up and when restoring the data, protected save files are absent. I'm on my 3rd Rock Band 2, and Vegas 2 careers because of that issue.

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by madman

You can back up those "protected" save files... but only if you do a full harddrive backup using Sony's special backup utility... which is unfortunately out of the question for me because I put in a 320 gb harddrive and it wants to back up everything... I don't have another external drive big enough to back up my entire PS3.

This worries me a little bit because I've had some flaky issues with the PS3 where it freezes and I can't get it to work again right away. So far I've been lucky enough that I haven't had a completely unrecoverable problem yet, but... we'll see...

That still doesn't work with saved data. If you are changing to a new PS3 the data will be lost. He will then have to reinstall games like SOCOM and update patches.

[madman]

Wow, I just assumed that it would work. I have a video I purchased from PSN and that was the only way it told me I could back it up... I assumed it would work for protected save files too... my mistake then... like I said I have never actually tried it... that is really lame.

[blackdragondisc]

I have an USB external HDD and I've plugged it into the front USB ports of my ps3 and it hasnt seen it anywhere! help!!

[dijasom]

just take the old hard drive out and swap it with your new system if it will allow it. it doesn't do anything to the warranty. and you get to keep all of your files. it shouldn't be a problem. (this only works if you have replaced the hard drive with a compatible laptop hdd. as the original one is Hard coded to the ps3 it came with.)

[Ron.]

Originally Posted by blackdragondisc

I have an USB external HDD and I've plugged it into the front USB ports of my ps3 and it hasnt seen it anywhere! help!!

Epic bump.

The HDD must be in FAT32 format.

Originally Posted by dijasom

just take the old hard drive out and swap it with your new system if it will allow it. it doesn't do anything to the warranty. and you get to keep all of your files. it shouldn't be a problem. (this only works if you have replaced the hard drive with a compatible laptop hdd. as the original one is Hard coded to the ps3 it came with.)

That doesn't work. All of the saved game data becomes corrupt.