Game Drive for PlayStation – PS4 Installation | Support Seagate US

Tools needed:

USB external drive (Step 1 & Step 4)

• To backup the PS4 
• Must be formatted FAT32 or ExFat

Phillips head screwdriver (Step 2)

• Needed to replace the current hard drive 
• Only 5 screws to take off in this process

USB flash drive (Step 3)

• With enough capacity to hold the PS4 OS file

Upgrade Process:
Backup game data
Replace the drive
Install the OS
Restore game data

Backup game data
 

Note: The USB drive destination needs to be formatted FAT32 or ExFat. Formatting the USB device will erase all data that is on the USB device.

• For Windows user format the drive in ExFat Disk Management
• For Mac users format the drive MS-DOS or ExFat in Disk Utility.

To backup the PS4 use the following steps:

Note: Make sure the USB external drive you are using has enough free space to backup your PS4.

1. Go to Settings
2. Select System
3. Select Backup and Restore
4. Select Back Up PS4
5. Follow the on screen prompts 
6. Select Back Up to start the backup process
7. The PS4 will restart providing an estimated length of time which will vary depending on the amount of data.
8. Once completed select ‘OK’  and the PS4 will restart
9. Once the reboot is complete turn the PS4 completely off

Replace the drive

1. Remove the top cover and locate the drive
2. Remove the ‘PlayStation’ screw 
3. Remove the tray holding the hard drive
4. Remove the four screws on the side
5. Replace the current drive in the tray with the Game Drive 
6. Replace all the screws

Install the OS

1. Connect a USB flash drive to a computer with enough to hold the PS4 OS file
2. Download the software from the PlayStation website – PS4 Website
3. Scroll to ‘Perform a New Installation of the System Software’
4. Click ‘Download Now’
5. Create a folder on the USB drive call PS4 – Must be all caps
6. Create a folder inside that folder call UPDATE – Must be all caps
7. Locate the PS4UPDATE.PUP
8. Put the PS4UPDATE.PUP inside the UPDATE folder
9. Safely eject the drive from the computer
10. Turn on the PS4 holding the power button until the PS4 beeps a second time
11. The Safe Mode screen should load
12. Select Initialize PS4
13. Attach the USB flash drive created earlier – Select OK
14. It will ask to verify the install – Select Yes
15. The install process will then start
16. Once installed the PS4 will need to be set up like a new system

Restore game data

1. To backup the PS4 use the following steps:
2. Connect the USB drive with the PS4 backup
3. Go to Settings
4. Select System
5. Select Backup and Restore
6. Select Restore PS4
7. Follow on screen prompts
8. Select Restore to start the restore process
9. The PS4 will restart providing an estimated length of time which will vary depending on the amount of data.
10. Once the restore is complete the PS4 should restart with the backed up user and user data fully restored.