I already told you I bought a new PS3 to replace my burned out launch model. The old one had a 750 GB drive in it that was almost full but unfortunately Sony does not allow hard drives to be moved from one unit to another intact. they must be reformatted.

There's a small trick to it though because in order to do the reformat without a PC and a drive enclosure you need a flash drive with the latest PS3 firmware on it. You can readily download this from Sony's site right here

Once done you need to make sure your memory stick is formatted as FAT32. This should be the default on smaller memory sticks. You don't need a lot of space. The file is smaller than 200 MB so a 1 GB stick is plenty.

Create a folder called PS3 on the stick and in that folder create another one called update. Then copy the downloaded file to the update folder.

Put your new/old drive in the PS3. Depending on the model instructions differ for getting the thing out of there. Note: contrary to what internet morons will tell you replacing the hard drive does not void your warranty. 

On the new super slim models getting the side off can be extremely difficult. I had to pry the plastic cover off with a knife.

Once you get the new drive installed put the memory stick in one of the USB ports and start the PS3. You be prompted to attach a controller with a USB cable (wireless won't work at this point) and press the PS button.

You should be told that the thing can't start and prompted to insert storage media and press start and select at the same time. 

If you have the USB stick set up in the manner I've already explained you should wind up on a screen warning you that the drive will be reformatted. Since this is your only choice go ahead and hold down the start and select together for 5 seconds or until it tells you it's checking again.

The format does not take long at all and once done you will have to go through the PS3 initial setup as you would with any new PS3

If you backed up your old PS3 you will need to run the Restore option under System Settings which depending on how much you had backed up can take forever. That's a story I've already told so I will not retell it here.

Hope someone can use this info.