external hard drive

[guidosarduche]

This little utility from HP should help, once installed it will only format attached USB storage devices.

[M]

Good luck!

[Jello]

I suggest going to the vendors website and using one of their tools. For instance if you have a Seagate drive, use Disc wizard. Takes less than a minute to format to fat32. I have done this with a 1.5 TB drive with a single partition.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Hey Gar!

Any luck so far?

John

[garlad]

Originally Posted by guidosarduche

This little utility from HP should help, once installed it will only format attached USB storage devices.

Originally Posted by John72953

Hey Gar!

Any luck so far?

John

Hi all, thanks again for your suggestions!

Well it worked! Thanks guidosarduche for your link.. Downloaded the program and it did the job! My hard drive can now be read by my PS3 A million thanks

One question though, when it formatted to FAT32 it seemed to take up over 100gb of my space! It this what you call a partition? Instead of having 500gb of space (well, actual is 465gb) I now only have 370gb free is this normal? I still have more than enough space for what I need it for, just curious as to why this has happened!

John, you were saying you still have to format a drive that you own - if you are having problems then the above link will do the job! Just beware of the space it will steel!!

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by garlad

Hi all, thanks again for your suggestions!

Well it worked! Thanks guidosarduche for your link.. Downloaded the program and it did the job! My hard drive can now be read by my PS3 A million thanks

One question though, when it formatted to FAT32 it seemed to take up over 100gb of my space! It this what you call a partition? Instead of having 500gb of space (well, actual is 465gb) I now only have 370gb free is this normal? I still have more than enough space for what I need it for, just curious as to why this has happened!

John, you were saying you still have to format a drive that you own - if you are having problems then the above link will do the job! Just beware of the space it will steel!!

Hi Gar!

Great to hear that the link provided by guidosarduche worked out for you. I'll have to transfer my data back onto my laptop, and then perform the format change.

I have a 300GB drive, which isn't huge, but I only use it really for my music files. I have my pics and files stored on seperate USB keys. The 100GB space allocation during the format is alot to give up, but the remaining 200GB or so is more than enough for my needs.

Tell me a bit about how you attached the drive to your PS3. Is it just as simple as plugging it in to a USB port? Does that therefore bring up the drive and allow immediate acess to the info stored? I know, maybe a stupid question, but then I'm not the smartest guy when it comes to PC's and the like.

John

[garlad]

Originally Posted by John72953

Hi Gar!

Great to hear that the link provided by guidosarduche worked out for you. I'll have to transfer my data back onto my laptop, and then perform the format change.

I have a 300GB drive, which isn't huge, but I only use it really for my music files. I have my pics and files stored on seperate USB keys. The 100GB space allocation during the format is alot to give up, but the remaining 200GB or so is more than enough for my needs.

Tell me a bit about how you attached the drive to your PS3. Is it just as simple as plugging it in to a USB port? Does that therefore bring up the drive and allow immediate acess to the info stored? I know, maybe a stupid question, but then I'm not the smartest guy when it comes to PC's and the like.

John

Not a stupid question at all!! Once formatted to FAT32 the hard drive is easy to use when attached to the PS3.

First of all though, you must create 4 folders on your hard drive

PICTURE (not Photo)
MUSIC
VIDEO
GAME (this isnt needed if you are not a gamer)

Once these folders are created, you save your content to the appropriate folder. Creating the folders makes using the external hard drive easier to use on your PS3. For example, when looking at your photos just go to 'Photo' on the XMB, select your external device and you will then see all your folders listed neatly exactly how you would see it on your PC/laptop. If dont create the PICTURE folder on your hard drive, the contented would be listed in all kind of ways and sub folders eg 'My Birthday' 'My Grad' wouldnt be recognised.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by garlad

Not a stupid question at all!! Once formatted to FAT32 the hard drive is easy to use when attached to the PS3.

First of all though, you must create 4 folders on your hard drive

PICTURE (not Photo)
MUSIC
VIDEO
GAME (this isnt needed if you are not a gamer)

Once these folders are created, you save your content to the appropriate folder. Creating the folders makes using the external hard drive easier to use on your PS3. For example, when looking at your photos just go to 'Photo' on the XMB, select your external device and you will then see all your folders listed neatly exactly how you would see it on your PC/laptop. If dont create the PICTURE folder on your hard drive, the contented would be listed in all kind of ways and sub folders eg 'My Birthday' 'My Grad' wouldnt be recognised.

Thanks Gar!

I wouldn't have known that, so I'm glad to hear it wasn't a stupid question after all.

I might try it out this afternoon!

John

[garlad]

Originally Posted by John72953

Thanks Gar!

I wouldn't have known that, so I'm glad to hear it wasn't a stupid question after all.

I might try it out this afternoon!

John

Good stuff, let us know how you get on!

PS - When I tried to use the application that guidosarduche suggested it told me that I could not use it as I was not the administrator on this laptop - weird as I am the only user! Anyway, just right click on it and select "run as adminstrator"

Also, the first time I tried to format it, it told that I couldnt as it was "write-protected" - solution? Just try it again! Worked the second time

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by garlad

Good stuff, let us know how you get on!

PS - When I tried to use the application that guidosarduche suggested it told me that I could not use it as I was not the administrator on this laptop - weird as I am the only user! Anyway, just right click on it and select "run as adminstrator"

Also, the first time I tried to format it, it told that I couldnt as it was "write-protected" - solution? Just try it again! Worked the second time

Yeah, I know about right-click "run as admin" trick, and I'll try it again if it says I can't the first time.

Will keep you posted. Hopefully later today!

John

[CanadianKrazyMods]

Originally Posted by guidosarduche

This little utility from HP should help, once installed it will only format attached USB storage devices.

I also used this on my 1TB external drive. Works great. I had used swissknife in the past, but this time around it did not work. Windows limit for fat32 is 32Gb I believe.

[Jello]

Originally Posted by garlad

One question though, when it formatted to FAT32 it seemed to take up over 100gb of my space! It this what you call a partition? Instead of having 500gb of space (well, actual is 465gb) I now only have 370gb free is this normal? I still have more than enough space for what I need it for, just curious as to why this has happened!

I have heard of this happening when using swiss knife. Thats why I suggested going to the website of the hard drive vendor and using their tools.

[Johnny Vinyl]

The HP utility doesn't seem to work.

I ran it as an admin and all it does is hang there. I tried 3 times and after 25 minutes of just hanging, I guess it doesn't like my computer. Everything on the utility is greyed-out (no access) except the START button. After that is tells me it is checking my drive (doesn't tell me which drive), and it just hangs there.

Am I missing something?

John

[CanadianKrazyMods]

Originally Posted by John72953

The HP utility doesn't seem to work.

I ran it as an admin and all it does is hang there. I tried 3 times and after 25 minutes of just hanging, I guess it doesn't like my computer. Everything on the utility is greyed-out (no access) except the START button. After that is tells me it is checking my drive (doesn't tell me which drive), and it just hangs there.

Am I missing something?

John

it takes awhile, especially on a large HDD

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by CanadianKrazyMods

it takes awhile, especially on a large HDD

Ok...what's a while? An hour? 2 hours? I see no movement of the progression bar at all.

John

[garlad]

Originally Posted by John72953

Ok...what's a while? An hour? 2 hours? I see no movement of the progression bar at all.

John

John! Select quick format and let me know how that works!

[enialal]

Yeah quick format is best for those drives with huge capacity but it doesn't fully delete some data on some sectors so you may get bad sectors but it's still safe.

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by garlad

John! Select quick format and let me know how that works!

I have unstinstalled an reinstalled the HP Utility twice and it still won't work. When the screen pops up it is entirely greyed out and I only have access to the START and CANCEL buttons. When I press START it tells me it is looking for the drive (yes, it's attached) and just hangs there.

Now Gar, you said you were using VISTA, which is what I have, but the HP Utility only mention XP, 98, etc....no mention of Vista at all.

I'm perplexed by this!

John

[garlad]

Originally Posted by John72953

I have unstinstalled an reinstalled the HP Utility twice and it still won't work. When the screen pops up it is entirely greyed out and I only have access to the START and CANCEL buttons. When I press START it tells me it is looking for the drive (yes, it's attached) and just hangs there.

Now Gar, you said you were using VISTA, which is what I have, but the HP Utility only mention XP, 98, etc....no mention of Vista at all.

I'm perplexed by this!

John

Yep, I'm on Vista and when I saw that it only supports XP, 98, etc I thought "just my luck.." But I just installed it anyway and gave it a go and it worked!

I am just finishing up my day's work, so when I get home I will do step by step screenshots for you.. I trust you are doing it perfectly, but there might be something you are missing or a difference in our systems. Sounds odd - why work fine for me but not you?

[Johnny Vinyl]

Originally Posted by garlad

Yep, I'm on Vista and when I saw that it only supports XP, 98, etc I thought "just my luck.." But I just installed it anyway and gave it a go and it worked!

I am just finishing up my day's work, so when I get home I will do step by step screenshots for you.. I trust you are doing it perfectly, but there might be something you are missing or a difference in our systems. Sounds odd - why work fine for me but not you?

That would be great...maybe I did miss something who knows?

I'll check back with you later as I just popped in for lunch and won't be staying much longer.

John