How To Upgrade Your PS3 Hard Drive

Step 1: Go out and buy a 2.5" SATA laptop hard drive. For this upgrade I have used a Fujitsu 250GB Sata.

Step 2: If you want to keep all of the information currently on your PS3 hard drive, You will need an external hard drive to backup the Data. The PS3 has it's own backup utility, which is very handy. The external hard drive will need to be formatted into FAT32 so that the PS3 can move data onto it. To format the Drive use a program called SwissKnife. Install it, and run the program.

Step 3: Once your external hard drive is in the proper format of FAT32, plug it into the PS3 and go to the Backup Utility under the Settings menu of the XMB, and follow the prompts.

Step 4: Choose your USB to Backup the data.

(The process took rougly 40 minutes)

Step 5: Once the backup is complete, turn off the PS3 and unplug it.

Step 6: On the left of the PS3 is the Hard Drive Bay. Use a flathead to remove the cover with ease. Once off, a blue screw is visible. This needs to be unscrewed to remove the Hard Drive. Be careful with the screws in the PS3 as they strip very easily.
Step 7: Remove the Hard Drive with the metal tab (visible below) and unscrew it from the frame. Then Replace the new Hard Drive in the slot.
Step 8: Slide the Hard Drive back into the PS3 and then push it to the left so it connects to its ports. Replace the blue screw and then the cover.

Step 9: Plug in and turn on the PS3. It will ask you to format the new drive.

Step 10: Once formatted, plug in your external Hard Drive with the PS3 backup data. Return to the Backup Utility, and this time select the Restore option. Once this is done all your data will be restored to its previous settings.

Complete!
(Note: Replacing the Hard Drive does not void your warranty)

How To Access The Japanese Playstation Store

You don't need to enter any Japanese characters to gain access to the Japanese Playstation Store. I've tried to make this as simple as possible, which is why there is an image for every step.

Step 1.
Go to the far left and Create a New User.

Step 2.
Log in as the New User. In this case I have used JapanStore as the name.















Step 3.
Move to sign up for Playstation Network.















Step 4.
Create a new account.















Step 5.
Click Continue.















Step 6.
Put down Japan as Country of Residence, Then put in a date of birth.















Step 7.
Select the top option (Master Account).















Step 8.
Select the right option (Agree).















Step 9.
Put in an Email address, password twice, Tick the box, and then answer the question however you want.















Step 10.
Put in an Online ID (Maybe your normal online ID with JP on the end).















Step 11.
Enter the Details if you want, or you can just fill it in exactly like this.















Step 12.
This is the part people usually have trouble with. I've made it simple for you here. In the first box enter 1080023 and then click the button to the right.















If you did that, it should automatically fill out correctly. Congratulations, you now live at Tokyo Tower. Now click the bottom right icon (Next).















Step 13.
This section is about credit cards. Chances are you won't be able to use your credit card, so select the second option (No).















Step 14.
Don't tick anything just click on the bottom right (Next).















Step 15.
Click the Bottom right icon (Confirm).















Step 16.
If this option comes up, select the bottom one (No).















Step 17.
Congratulations, you can now use the Japanese Playstation Store.















There it is. Hope this helped.