Well my HDD swap was a bit more adventurous than I'd hoped. It was partly my fault and partly some incomplete and/or poorly ordered (poorly ordered on Sony's update page IMO I'll cover that in a bit) instructions. Long story short if I had to do it again I could do it in a matter of 30 min. or so including the back-up and restore times. Anyway the story is below for anyone who wants to read it, I originally posted the following on the Council Of Gamers Union board and copy and pasted here. I urge all who've been invited to join the Council Of Gamers, I think this will be a fun and active union. Anyway on to how my HDD swap went (the original post was done as a helpful hint for anyone planning to upgrade their HDD):

First off this "hint" is actually in the PS3 manual but if you're not careful you could overlook something as I did the first time through. So basically this is meant to help anyone doing this avoid the headache I went through due to a simple oversight.

The best way to approach this is to use one of the following links and follow the instructions on those pages, both are quite helpful right up to the point where you turn the console back on:

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=8235228&publicUserId=5746297

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6176090/index.html?cpage=10

Now after completing the process per the instructions you would think you are done when you turn the console back on other than following the onscreen prompts to formatting the HDD. But something is left out of these instructions that could cause some people to pull their hair out. What I am talking about is however mentioned at the tail end of the PS3 Manual's instructions on swapping the HDD but the adventure doesn't neccessarily end there.

Here's what happens:

After completing the swap per the set of instructions you choose to use you will then reconnect the PS3 and turn it on. After doing so you may get a screen telling you to connect a controller via the usb cord and press the PS button. After doing this you will get a screen stating "The system software cannot run correctly. Press the PS button to try to restart the system.". You can try to restart but most likely it won't change anything and you'll need to follow the next set of directions as follows: "If the system cannot be restarted , the system partition of the hard disk must be reformatted and you must reinstall the system software.

Insert storage media that contains the update data of version x.xx (whatever the latest version is, right now it's 2.30) or later, and then press the START and SELECT buttons at the same time.". Now you can insert your back-up media and press the START and SELECT buttons but more than likely you'll need to download the update data via your pc onto your back-up media. The back-up I used was a 60gb Maxtor Mini One-Touch III which I connected to my PC via usb. To download the update you'll need to go to here: http://www.us.playstation.com/PS3/About/SystemUpdate and go to the bottom left of the page where you'll have links for updating via PS3 (which obviously you won't be able to do), update via PC (the method I used), and update via disc media (which you can attempt if you have a game disc with the latest update on the disc).

After clicking the update via PC button scroll down slightly to the "Update data download procedure" on the page that follows. There are two steps to follow then a "download now" button below them BUT be sure to read the "Notice" slightly below the "download now" button BEFORE clicking it (IMO this info should have been in the directions prior to the "download now" button but I guess that's why you gotta read the "fine print")! If you don't save the data EXACTLY as the notice tells you it will NOT work. The first time I missed the notice and the update folder was saved in all lowercase letters ("update") so the PS3 didn't recognize it. The next time I saw the notice and saved the file in all CAPS ("UPDATE") and it worked.

Afte you've saved the update data correctly you should be able to connect your back-up media to your PS3, press the START and SELECT buttons (from the earlier mentioned screen), and follow the prompts.

Hope this helps and is clearer than mud :P . If you have any qestions feel free to e-mail me or pm me on here. Any editing suggestions on how to make this better will be appreciated. Thanks! And Game-On!