Preserving Data While Formatting External Hard Drive

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Jun 18, 2004
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I recently purchased a new PS3 and would like to transfer some audio and video files to it from my external hard drive. I ran into a problem, however, in that my hard drive is formatted in NTFS and the PS3 can only read FAT32. I have about 260 of 300 GB filled, and not enough space on my PC to hold the files while I reformat my external. Is there any simple way for me to somehow format the hard drive in FAT32 and still be able to restore all the data that’s on it afterward?

I’ve considered using Mozy to temporarily and cheaply store my files online while I reformat, but worry both about reliability and the time it would take to backup and restore such a large amount of data. While doing research I’ve read recommendations for the use of programs like Partition Magic in similar situations, but I have no knowledge regarding such things and don’t know if I’d be able to shrink the partition enough for it to fit in the small amount of free space that is available. Would my best bet be to try to temporarily get my hands on another external hard drive to hold all of the data while I reformat?

Thanks in advance for any responses.
 
If the data is important to you, you should have backups of it anyway. The best solution is to get more storage space of some sort.

It should be possible to convert from NTFS with Partition Magic. However, PM hasn't been updated in quite a while, and may cause issues. Parted Magic looks like it can handle NTFS too, so that's another option you could try.
 
I’ve considered using Mozy to temporarily and cheaply store my files online while I reformat,
Click to expand...

Unless you have a very very fast uplink that is going to take weeks to upload.

I would just buy a 16 GB usb stick or an extra external hard drive well unless you can borrow some time on some other pc with enough storage.
 
BTW, converting to FAT32 will limit you to 4GB max per file. This may be a problem with your videos.
 
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