Using A PlayStation 2 HDD In Your PC

Posted By : todd sharp Posted At : January 7, 2007 12:26 PM Posted In: Gaming

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Over the last few days I've been doing some conversion of old VHS tapes to DVD and quickly found my tiny 40gb hard drive getting completely full. So this morning I hopped in the car and went searching for some bargain HDDs, but all the stores around here seemed to have jacked their prices through the roof now that Christmas is over. I quickly remembered that I had another 40gb HDD sitting in my desk drawer that came from my PlayStation 2. I originally bought the drive (for $99!!) to use with Socom 2, but since the PS2 is on it's last legs (see pic) I decided to use it as extra storage in this trusty old Dell. My PS2:

I had a little trouble getting it all set up, but now that I'm done I thought I would document the steps that I took in case anyone else is trying to get this done too. Disclaimer: I'm a developer, not a hardware geek so if your PC explodes by following these steps I'm not to blame. These steps are for use with Windows XP. Afterthought: Power down the damn machine first please. Step 1: Remove all jumpers. The PS2 HDD that I have happens to be a Maxtor (model # 2F040L0) and a quick check of the Maxtor docs told me that this particular drives acts as a slave when all jumpers are removed. Step 2: Plug your PS2 HDD into a spare IDE port (I had a spare cable on hand that was clearly labeled for motherboard, slave and master inputs. Step 3: Plug in a spare power lead from your motherboard. (See disclaimer above - don't blow anything up please). Step 4: Secure HDD (or be lazy like me and lay that bitch on the bottom of the case) and close case. Step 5: Power up PC. Step 6: If not recognized by windows, install new hardware. Step 7: At this point Windblows will not recognize the new drive, so right click My Computer, choose Manage, then choose Disk management. At this point you should see the drive as unallocated (I think that's what it was called - again, me = hardware noob). Right click on the 'unallocated' disk space and choose partition. You'll want to make sure the File System matches your original C file system type. Walk through this simple wizard and kick off the format/partition. Once it's complete you'll be all set. In my case I created a G drive that now has about 38gb of free space for me to use. That's about it. Please feel free to let me know if anything that I've done here is incorrect or could be done better. But it works for me, so I'm happy.

Comments (29)

Ryan Everhart's Gravatar What happened to your PS2 to put it on it's last legs? Looks like it may have been dropped.

todd sharp's Gravatar It started giving me disc read errors and what was happening was that the gear that spins the disc was getting stuck - so i leave the lid off and give it a tap when i boot a disc and it starts spinning

fernando lopez's Gravatar That's awesome.

Are you going to use that memory card?

todd sharp's Gravatar The PS2 still runs, i just didn't need/use the hdd anymore - so yeah, i use the memory card still ;)

BUT - i played the 360 last night for the first time and I'm HOOKED...i'm going to pick one up next month I think!

Kevin's Gravatar I just did this and I gotta say, this is awesome.

I stopped using my PS2 HDD a while ago and wanted to know if there was a way to hook it up to my PC for extra storage instead of having it lying around.

Thank you very much.

todd sharp's Gravatar No prob Kevin. Pretty nice to have the extra storage, eh?

Jason Trench's Gravatar Wow. After installing my old ps2 hdd into an external case, I looked all over the web for a walkthrough just like this. Thanks for the help! I'm using it to converting/transferring music and video to my PS3. You rule.

anonymous's Gravatar how did you remove the harddrive mounts?

Tokimemofan's Gravatar A Torx bit will remove it

Kyle's Gravatar just did this and it worked! now i can have enough space on my computer to fill up my ipod

Andres Hernandez's Gravatar Hello there

I have seen you =had= a ps2 with its hard disk, I wonder if you have the HDD utility disc

if you have it and you wish to sell it send me a mail

I'm currently developing a project (see page)

nazsmostwanted's Gravatar I have a PS2 but the DVD-Rom is busted,won't shut.So following the instructions,can I take it out,and put it in a PC case running WinXP,and play PS2 isos,or Roms? Sorry,I'm a noobie...

nzsmostwanted's Gravatar Forgot to say...can I use the DVD-Rom already installed in my PC to play PS2 Games if I follow the instructions and put the PS2 inside a case using winxp?

todd sharp's Gravatar I seriously doubt it. A PS2 processor would likely be required, it's more then just a DVD drive...

SoCoMmAsTeR's Gravatar good job im 12 and just did this works fine gotta say you really know what your doing

Flightx's Gravatar i've been wanting to upgrade my ps3 hdd and have read that i would need a external hdd to transfer my downloads and saves before and after installing the new drive. i remembered i had a huge hdd in my ps2 which used to be a external hdd but got switched to the ps2. after following your guide to convert it back to a normal hdd that windows would read all i can say is thank you for this. you have saved me about £50.

Monkeymook's Gravatar Thanks alot, mate! I had a few hard drives I stored games on, and decided to convert them to movie HDDs, and I couldn't figure out how to get them back to fat32.

Greatly appreciated!

Azafaraht's Gravatar Thanks, this really helps. Once I installed it I was wondering why it wasn't getting recognized. Little stupid me forgot to check My Computer/Manage/Disk Management.

Now, I have a problem with this. I do not want to format it. I want to remove the data found in the HDD. It contains Screenshots of FFXI of about 4 years ago and I want to recover them. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Vodin's Gravatar Well dang. Thanks man, my uncle who owns a Video Game shop had a PS2 harddrive in the junk box, I snatched it, and will definetly use this to hook it up. Game Force in Reno, Next to Costco in Airport square. Go there, and buy a game. Not a advertise, but hell, I hate Gamestop, we will sell ANY game cheaper than them.
Feel free to delete this, if needed, I just googled and whatnot.
But yeah, thanks for the information.

Studi0wink's Gravatar Thank you this was very helpfull!

Alacres's Gravatar Thanks so much for the guide man! I did have a more specific question though, since I didn't see it listed anywhere.

I'm really bad with setting up hard drives and the like, so do you know if it'd be possible to set the PS2 drive as the master? See, I have an old computer sitting around that doesn't have a working HDD, so I figured I'd just throw this one in there for now, but I wasn't sure if that was possible.

If you could give me some info on this I'd be really greatful.

Thanks in advance,

-Sean

Lord Tadrakyn's Gravatar Just did this for my stepdad's computer, and I must say I am impressed. The Maxtor isnt just some peice of shit, it has a relatively good read-speed. Anyways, couldn't get the star-hole screws off the HDD so I just shoved it very forcefully into the HD slot in his case, and it is quieter than my computer! No rattle! Great memory boost, or boot drive for a low-end computer. Nice work!

Lord Tadrakyn's Gravatar Alacres, I'm hoping you still check up on here, YES you can use it as a primary, I have just done so. Make sure you have a windows boot disc of course, wouldnt suggest Vista on such a low GB though.

http://eshop.macsales.com/Tech/manuals/idehdsettin...

Follow the instructions on here for setting up for Cable Select mode. It's near the top, look for something about pin connectors. Make sure when you install the HDD (Like I said, should work with brute force, shoving it into the HD slot) that you blug the master cable into it, it should be labeled on the ribbon. Email sven.tadrakyn@gmail.com if you have any questions!

Alacres's Gravatar I actually gave it a try a little while after I wrote that last post, and everything worked out great. I'm really surprised at how well the thing performs.

In any case, thanks Lord Tadrakyn, for the help, nonetheless :).

Kevin's Gravatar Hey, THANKS! This really helped!

suseentheran's Gravatar Thanx mate.

Nice Post, Good effort.

AR87ACE's Gravatar So if i do this....can i afterwards put it back in the ps2?! will it still work?! answer me fast plz!my console is all open up and my pc too :P :D

todd sharp's Gravatar @AR87ACE - No

AR87ACE's Gravatar i just found out myself :( so i`m just gonna keep it for the pc!anyway...thx a lot for the tip and the quick reply