My friend had swapped out his original PS3 hard drive for a larger one (250GB). Then he started having problems with it (randomly freezing).

He replaced the original hard drive (for warranty reasons) before sending it off for repair.

Now he has it back, and has re-installed the larger drive, but the OS keeps prompting him to format it. Of course, this would erase all of his game data, and he's not willing to do that.

Does anyone know of a way to get around the format prompt?
LOL @ it's me.

Fortunately, we think we've found a way.

He has to buy an external enclosure for the 2.5" drive. Then plug that in via USB and back it up onto the smaller drive.

Then swap the drives, format the larger, and transfer the data off the smaller drive.

He shouldn't have to re-format the external drive since it's already FAT32.

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Send me an email if you have to. Thanks!

There is no way. He has to.

He has to. No other way of saying it. I am sorry for your(his) gaming loss. You are in my prayers.