How to convert hard disk format from NTFS to Fat32

Another weekend, another task to do to make life easier. This time I will work on upgrading my 2008 phat Playstation3's 40GB hard disk to a massive 320GB. Since I play games a lot and games nowadays require larger space of game data for faster processing, I find myself having to remove previous games' install data just to accommodate enough space for the new ones. This is definitely a daunting task, in malay, we simply call it "potong stim".
‘Potong Stim’ literally means cutting steam. It is a term used for someone who kills the enthusiasm of others.
TL;DR Ruin the good mood!!

Tools required:
  • Screwdriver with cross heads aka Phillips-head
  • 2 portable USB powered hard disk: One for backing up the PS3 (> 80GB) and another one for PS3 firmware (~ 200MB)
  • 1 new 2.5 inch portable hard disk: Western Digital Scorpio Black 320GB 7200rpm 16MB SATA2 (Model No.WD3200BEKT) $71.50
There're plenty of online step-by-step guide on how to backup data, switch hard disk and restore data from backup, you can refer to "Related" section below. What I would like to write about is the 2 problems that I encountered which are not covered by those articles.


Q: How to format the new hard disk from NTFS (default) to FAT32?

Believe me, I've spent hours and gone through all the hard part for you. Below is the pseudocode:

IF (you're using Windows 95/NT/98/Me/2000/XP) {
    CompuApps SwissKnife V3 is the best option. 
    Download it here. 4.35MB 
} ELSE IF (you're using Windows 2000/XP/Vista/7) {
    SwissKnife won't work at all in Win7. Try Tokiwa's FAT32Formatter.  
    Download it here. 184KB
} ELSE IF (your thumbdrive capacity < 32GB && Use Diskpart feature in command prompt) {
    [01] Plug in your USB Flash Drive 
    [02] Open a command prompt as administrator (Right click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt and select run as administrator) 
    [03] diskpart 
    [04] list disk 
    [05] select disk 2 //Assume 2 is your USB drive 
    [06] clean 
    [07] create partition primary 
    [08] select partition 1 
    [09] active 
    [10] format fs=fat32 //Append "quick" option for quick format 
    [11] Assign 
    [12] Exit 
    reference
} ELSE {
    Give it one last try, 
    [01] Right click on drive in "My Computer" 
    [02] Choose "Format" 
    [03] Choose "FAT32" //NOTE: exFAT is different from FAT32 
    [04] Check "Quick Format" option 
    [05] Click "Start" button

     God Bless You 
}

I use Tokiwa's FAT32Formatter, this incredibly lightweight software did its job in less than 10 seconds for converting an empty 150GB drive from NTFS to FAT32. Impressed? Hell YES!


Q: Why PS3 can't find the .PUB (firmware) in the thumb drive?

I downloaded PS3 firmware (4.25 as of today) from AU Playstation site and transferred the xxx.PUB to another portable thumbdrive. But pressing 'Start' and 'Select' buttons simultaneously (as said in the on-screen instruction for restoring data) cannot detect the firmware update file in the drive.
SOLUTION: You need to create this directory path in the thumbdrive: PS3/UPDATE/xxx.PUB

Other

  • Time spent to backup a 38GB data is approximately 2 hours, same applies to restore the data to the new drive.
  • DLCs are included in backup as well. But it needs to be "activated" again somehow. E.g. Borderlands cannot detect any of the installed DLCs until I downloaded and reinstalled one of the DLCs from PSN.
  • Windows do have the limit of formatting drive (>32GB) to FAT32 no matter what version of the Windows OS. 

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