How to Replace a PS4 Hard Drive?Video Arcades & Internet Gaming CentersUpdated on Jul 24, 2018 View more like this | Visit United Kingdom, UN | Contact Matt Rowen |
In this article, I am going to tell you, how to change your hard drive with the larger size hard drive or how to completely replace your hard drive with the newer one.
In simple words it is not very difficult to replace your hard drive, the entire process is very simple and if you do it step by step, it hardly will consume your 15-20 minutes. Moreover, it also depends on your internet speed.
During the changeover, you should keep in mind that you follow the exact steps so that you don't end up losing your saved data. One more important thing to notice in the process of replacing is you should have a higher amount of free space to save your most liked games so that they won't get lost or deleted.
You should be opting for the standard PS4 hard drive is a 500GB 5400 RPM SATA II hard drive, whereas the PS4 Pro includes a 1TB drive. You can easily replace these hard drives with any of the existing hard drives which follow the Standard as thicker than 9.5mm and is larger than 160GB.
Recently the prices hard drives experience a huge drop, So you should buy one which has a huge amount of space such as 2TB Hard drive. One thing to know here is, if you are changing your existing hard drive with the newer one, then you are not violating your warranty if the PS4.
You can also upgrade to a faster 7200 RPM SATA II hard drive. Note that SATA II is sometimes called SATA/300 or SATA 3.0 Gbps. A new SATA Series will work just fine, but it won't give you speed boost. For more details on PS4 Compatible hard drives see Best PS4 HArd Drives. Some of the most popular hard drives compatible with PS4 are:
If you are already having a hard drive with you and you are not sure about the size of it, still you can use it by connecting it to the PS4 with the SATA cables. In that case, you have to put your top of the PS4 open but you can connect it that way. You can also go for third party custom made an upgrade from Nyko, called the Nyko DataBank, but I didn't test it yet.
It doesn't matter what option you chose, but one thing is to confirm that you will end up losing some of your data as you are doing it outright. The settings and data that you are going to lose are wifi settings, game and app installs, save data, and other local user data.
Don't worry, as I already said above, we will not let it happen. To avoid this situation, you can take backups and after completing the installation, you can again back put your favorite games and all stuff.
First of all, you will be requiring some basic materials. Such as Screw Driver, Network access, USB flash drive and SATA Hard disk.
Step 1:
Go to playstation.com, and find the most recent system software. The current page for this is here: http://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps4/ and download the new system recovery software(700-800mb)
Step 2:
After the first step, you have to test your USB drive with your PS4 and check if it is working fine or not? If it is working fine, then move on to the next step.
Step 3:
Now you have to Plug your USB into your computer, You also use a MAC or PC for this task. The one thing you have to make sure that, your USB drive is properly formatted by FAT32 to avoid any issues.
Create a folder titled PS4 (all caps) on the flash drive. Create another folder titled UPDATE (all caps) within that PS4 folder.
Step 4:
Move the downloaded software to the new updated folder. The name of the file will be PS4UPDATE.PUP, if it is not the same, it is because you have many instances of the same file in your PC, make sure to change it before moving further.
Step 5:
Take a backup, you can do this either by copying all your previous data in another USB drive or save it on Cloud.
Step 6:
Turn off your PS4.
Step 7:
Unpack your PS4, remove the case by gently pressing it on the side of it.
Step 8:
Look for the screw head with PlayStation button symbols on it.
Step 9:
Pull the default hard drive out by pulling it forward.
Step 10:
Now you have to remove the hard drive from its casing.
Step 11:
Install the new hard drive of your PlayStation and replace the old one.
Step 12:
Reconnect the PlayStation 4 to your TV and plug the power cord back in.
Step 13:
Your Ps4 has two USB slots, on one plug the USB drive and the other one should be for the controller, plug the controller also.
Step 14:
Hold the power button (the top of the two hidden buttons located in the "crack" between the two PS4 halves) down for 7 seconds to initiate safe mode.
Step 15:
The safe mode screen will appear now, Choose the bottom option'Reinstall System Software'.
Step 16:
Now the process will take a few minutes to be executed. If you get an error message at this point then it is because of the version of the install software on the RAM(Get the latest version) or maybe because or the directory (make sure it's PS4, UPDATE), or the format (FAT32).
I hope the above steps helped you in replacing your PS4 hard drive easily if you have any questions just write all of them in comments. I am happy to assist you all.
Is it DIfficult to replace the Hard Drive?
In simple words it is not very difficult to replace your hard drive, the entire process is very simple and if you do it step by step, it hardly will consume your 15-20 minutes. Moreover, it also depends on your internet speed.
During the changeover, you should keep in mind that you follow the exact steps so that you don't end up losing your saved data. One more important thing to notice in the process of replacing is you should have a higher amount of free space to save your most liked games so that they won't get lost or deleted.
Which Hard Drive to Choose for my PS4?
You should be opting for the standard PS4 hard drive is a 500GB 5400 RPM SATA II hard drive, whereas the PS4 Pro includes a 1TB drive. You can easily replace these hard drives with any of the existing hard drives which follow the Standard as thicker than 9.5mm and is larger than 160GB.
Recently the prices hard drives experience a huge drop, So you should buy one which has a huge amount of space such as 2TB Hard drive. One thing to know here is, if you are changing your existing hard drive with the newer one, then you are not violating your warranty if the PS4.
You can also upgrade to a faster 7200 RPM SATA II hard drive. Note that SATA II is sometimes called SATA/300 or SATA 3.0 Gbps. A new SATA Series will work just fine, but it won't give you speed boost. For more details on PS4 Compatible hard drives see Best PS4 HArd Drives. Some of the most popular hard drives compatible with PS4 are:
- Samsung Seagate Momentus SpinPoint ST2000LM003 2TB 2.5" SATA Notebook Hard Drive 9.5MM
- HGST Travelstar 7K1000 2.5 Inch 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III 32MB Cache Internal Hard Drive 0K22423
- Seagate 1TB Solid State Hybrid SATA 6Gbps 62MB Cache 2.5-Inch ST1000LM014
If you are already having a hard drive with you and you are not sure about the size of it, still you can use it by connecting it to the PS4 with the SATA cables. In that case, you have to put your top of the PS4 open but you can connect it that way. You can also go for third party custom made an upgrade from Nyko, called the Nyko DataBank, but I didn't test it yet.
It doesn't matter what option you chose, but one thing is to confirm that you will end up losing some of your data as you are doing it outright. The settings and data that you are going to lose are wifi settings, game and app installs, save data, and other local user data.
Don't worry, as I already said above, we will not let it happen. To avoid this situation, you can take backups and after completing the installation, you can again back put your favorite games and all stuff.
How to Replace or Upgrade Your Hard Drive on PS4
First of all, you will be requiring some basic materials. Such as Screw Driver, Network access, USB flash drive and SATA Hard disk.
Step 1:
Go to playstation.com, and find the most recent system software. The current page for this is here: http://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/system-updates/ps4/ and download the new system recovery software(700-800mb)
Step 2:
After the first step, you have to test your USB drive with your PS4 and check if it is working fine or not? If it is working fine, then move on to the next step.
Step 3:
Now you have to Plug your USB into your computer, You also use a MAC or PC for this task. The one thing you have to make sure that, your USB drive is properly formatted by FAT32 to avoid any issues.
Create a folder titled PS4 (all caps) on the flash drive. Create another folder titled UPDATE (all caps) within that PS4 folder.
Step 4:
Move the downloaded software to the new updated folder. The name of the file will be PS4UPDATE.PUP, if it is not the same, it is because you have many instances of the same file in your PC, make sure to change it before moving further.
Step 5:
Take a backup, you can do this either by copying all your previous data in another USB drive or save it on Cloud.
Step 6:
Turn off your PS4.
Step 7:
Unpack your PS4, remove the case by gently pressing it on the side of it.
Step 8:
Look for the screw head with PlayStation button symbols on it.
Step 9:
Pull the default hard drive out by pulling it forward.
Step 10:
Now you have to remove the hard drive from its casing.
Step 11:
Install the new hard drive of your PlayStation and replace the old one.
Step 12:
Reconnect the PlayStation 4 to your TV and plug the power cord back in.
Step 13:
Your Ps4 has two USB slots, on one plug the USB drive and the other one should be for the controller, plug the controller also.
Step 14:
Hold the power button (the top of the two hidden buttons located in the "crack" between the two PS4 halves) down for 7 seconds to initiate safe mode.
Step 15:
The safe mode screen will appear now, Choose the bottom option'Reinstall System Software'.
Step 16:
Now the process will take a few minutes to be executed. If you get an error message at this point then it is because of the version of the install software on the RAM(Get the latest version) or maybe because or the directory (make sure it's PS4, UPDATE), or the format (FAT32).
I hope the above steps helped you in replacing your PS4 hard drive easily if you have any questions just write all of them in comments. I am happy to assist you all.
