How to Use A Flash Drive on Your PS3

I recently loaded up one of my many portable USB Flash drives with awesome AVI movie files for a good buddy so he and his wife could chill on Saturday night. He wanted me to burn the movies on DVD but I told him that method is outdated, obsolete and time consuming. Since he is incapable of steaming the content (he doesn't own a computer), the only other solution was to play the files off his PlayStation 3 console.
Unfortunately, he didn't know how to do this and claims his system didn't recognize my USB stick. (sigh)

Many different features about the PlayStation 3 gaming system make it a great entertainment platform. One of the best of these features is the USB compatibility of the PS3 system. Each console features four USB ports, allowing the system to interface seamlessly with USB devices such as keyboards, mice and flash drives. It's astonishingly easy to use a flash drive with your PS3 once you follow a few basic steps.

Instructions:

1.     Install your flash memory drive's driver software using a traditional personal computer. You won't be able to use your flash memory drive with your PS3 system unless the flash drive is already working properly and has all requisite driver software installed on it.
2.     Copy any data from your computer that you want to transfer to your PlayStation 3 onto the flash memory drive. Large files may take up to several minutes to transfer to your flash drive.
3.     Turn your PlayStation 3 game system on using your PS3 wireless controller, and wait for the main menu to load. Always turn the system on and boot it up before inserting hardware into the USB ports.
4.     Insert your flash memory drive into an open USB port on your PS3 console. Access the data on the flash drive by going to the Video, Audio and Picture tabs in the main menu. Also, use the PS3 data storage tools to copy any data from your PS3 onto the flash memory drive.
5.     Transfer files from your PS3 to your PC hard drive, using your flash memory drive, to back them up and save space on your PS3 hard drive.

Tips & Warnings:

    Use a flash memory drive as a memory stick for your PS3 by saving game files to it for later retrieval.

    Don't remove a flash memory drive from your PS3 while data transfer is in progress. Doing so may corrupt the data on your flash drive and lead to data loss or even corrupt the drive itself.

RPM