Ps3 – What data does the PS3’s backup utility preserve

ps3

My PS3's Blu-Ray drive died yesterday, and I will probably just end up getting a new console.

I plan on using the Data Transfer Utility as outlined in this question's answer to preserve all my data. However, I would also like to backup everything first using the Backup Utility just to be on the safe side.

When I tried running the utility with a 4GB disk-on-key plugged in, it said I need around 14GB of additional storage. The only thing I really want to preserve are my save-files which probably take less than 20MB (I don't want to copy them one-by-one manually for fear of leaving something behind), so I was wondering just what it is that the backup utility is trying to back up other than save files. Assuming it's nothing I care about, I'll be able to delete it and proceed with the backup.

Best Answer

The Backup Utility will backup everything, the only limitation is that copy-protected items will not restore on a different PS3 machine than the machine they were backed up from. (Reference)

So to use the Backup Utility on a 4GB USB key you would probably need to first delete everything except your game saves, i.e. all your music, videos, photos and game installs/patches.