Question about using external hard drives on consoles...

[monkees19]

Simple question but possibly a complicated answer. I'm at work and don't have the time to peruse the internet and as usual, you guys always seem to know.

My curent last-gen consoles are beginning to have a memory problem. My PS3 is only a 60GB, the 360 is 120GB and Wii U is the 8GB basic model. I've expanded the Wii U's HDD space by using a USB stick (16GB I think) but I've already went from a 20 to a 120 on the 360 and I don't want to go buy another one.

I have a 1 TB Western Digital USB external hard drive that I use on my laptop since it is a bit dated and I think only has a 80GB HDD.

I know I can use this external drive to expand the memory on these consoles. My question is this: Would I be able to partition off this external drive to allow me to use say 250 GB for each of those three consoles at the same time and still leave 250 for the laptop? I certainly can't afford to buy two or three more drives just for that. I like being married enough to not do that. I don't know my way around computers all that well so if it is possible if anyone can help me/point me to a website I'd appreciated it.

[blcklblskt]

You can partition the drive easily.  I needed 80gb to back up my PS3 hard drive, so I used EASEUS partition master.  It was a free program that allows you to choose how much space you want each partition to have, as well as the format (FAT32, etc.)

I'm not sure how the PS3 accesses data from external drives (as in if it will play games off one), so that may take a bit of research in case somewhere doesn't respond here.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

FYI: Xbox 360 formats the entire drive and requires special driver signatures. Even then, if it's not first party, MS can detect it and ban the console. Not worth it.

[monkees19]

Wow, really? I didn't think MS made their own external HDDs. I'm mostly interested in using it for the PS3 since it's full and for the Wii U, since inevitably, 8GB just won't go very far. Thanks guys. I have much to look into on my next day off. If I just use it for those two it'll be a win. The older model 360 HDDs aren't that expensive anymore if I really needed to go that route.

[Shadow Kisuragi]

Depends on which version of the console you have. It may just be worth purchasing another HDD and swapping between the two.

[monkees19]

I still have the older white console. I started with a 20GB and that lasted for about 4 years. I upgraded to a 120GB a little under a year ago and I thought, I got space, I'll download everything! I'm quickly down to my last 15GB. It's just sad because that external I have just sits there doing nothing. I figured this would be a good way to put it to good use. I'm not about to get my console banned though! I think for now I'll fudge around with it and see if I can get it to work on just the other two for now and go from there. Even if I just get it to go on the PS3 I'll be happy. Virtual Console games don't take up much space and I don't ever buy retail games digitally.

Edit: Gamestop sells a 250GB for about $70 used