You welcome my friend glad I was able to help!! But yea the first thing I would do is backup your data I didn't have any flash drives big enough so I went to walmart and got a cheap external hdd which I still use and is a great investment. I know I was browsing www.newegg.com and they had 1TB external harddrives for only 50 bucks!!!!!! thats a steal and they have free shipping. So check newegg.com for an external hdd for cheap and I would recommend one with atleast 200gb so you will get your money worth and can use for other things because they are good to have. That will make sure you have way more than enough space to back up all your data and then some. However if you can't wait just check your local walmart they should be fairly cheap there too.What you want to do also is just plug in your external harddrive that you are going to use and just find backup system on ur xmb. It will take about 2 hours to back up all your data this will even back up your psn games you downloaded. But some of your save files wont carry over depending on the game because some companies put blocks on games that won't allow save files to be used on systems they weren't originated on which is stupid. Again Glad I could help.

Its a temp fix because you are reflowing the motherboard and reapplying thermal paste. But how the system is built will result in all 60gb ps3s to eventually fail. If someone could help meexplain its something about the system overheats too quickly therefore messing up the heatflow and actually melting the thermal paste between the fan and motherboard. Long gaming can result in the process happening quicker or playing in a room thats hot and not proper ventilated. However you can play in a well ventilated room dust your ps3 everyday or so like me and still get YlOD. There is a permanent fix but they say its pretty hard to do and only someone who has a real understanding ofwhat they are doing should attempt.

Just go to newegg.com they should be real cheap on there or your local walmart they aren't too pricey. All what I did when I backed up my data was plug it into my system and go to backup system and it did everything on its own. It took roughly around 2 hours because I was backing up a lot of information. When you restore all the data it will look exactly how you left it psn games and all. The only difference you will see is that your harddrive has more space now.

No when you fix your system it will turn on just like it was never broke if you fixed it right. Look for Gilsky Ylod fix his video is by far the best. Its very detailed and he knows what he is doing. Fix the ps3 then back up your information and if you like send it too sony. But the thing is 150 is alot of money to me when I can get a brand new slim for 299.99. Also your fat ps3 will have a good chance that it breaks again and another thing sony may send you a refurbished ps3 thats not even the same one. If thats the case the data that you backedup, all of it may not carry over properply because some save files are married to the system. So I'm in the same boat your in I have a 60gb ps3 it broke I fixed it myself backed up my data and now im going to purchase a slim model. One day when I feel like it I will send it too sony to get fixed then turn around and sale it on Ebay with the 90 warranty or however long they give you on fixes. That way I will have a slim ps3 that has a very small chance of break vs fat. Then I will get the fat fixed by sony and sale it on ebay for around however much they are going for since its a 100% Backwards compatiable.

Your not screwed you can fix it yourself get all your information backed up and get your game out. If you send it too sony first then you will indeed lose all your data. What you will need is a precision screw driver set, philips head screw drivers, a torx head screwdriver, thermal paste (artic silver), something like a flipsy card or spreader to spread the paste evenly, and a heatgun. Go to youtube and look up gilsky ps3 ylod fix. He will walk you through how to fix your ps3 and it will give you if done right about two more months of play or longer until it goes out again its a temp fix. But this will allow you to back up your data and get your game out. So right now your in a situation where this maybe your only option. I did it twice on my system already backed up my data and now im good to go bout to purchase a slim model. But be warned all your information and saved files may not carry over to your slim since some game save files are married to the system which is stupid if you ask me. Try it out before you send it too sony very easy to do.

If I remember its about 350 degrees. But I mean just get your heatgun from like lowes or home depot they cost around 20 bucks or less and they have more than one setting. So just go to youtube and watch the gilksy video and just follow his instructions the man knows what he is doing. But from the video I think it was like 350 degrees but again heatguns typically have atleast two settings and in this case you want to use 350 degrees or so and that will be the low setting.

The ps3 can be hacked and their are numerous ways. But those ways cannot be discussed on these forums so this topic is probably going to be closed soon. The only problem with hacking these days are the hackers are going to have to always be a step ahead of sony because they aren't going to just sit there and let it happen. Sony will fight back with new firmwares constantly to try and block the hackers and the hackers will keep trying to make different hacks to battle sony. So why even put yourself in that silly war just save your money buy your games or wait till they reduce in price. To me its just not worth it I dont want to fight with sony keep looking for hack updates just to play games or be able to get on the psn just not worth it. I know at the moment those who hack can't get on the psn but who is the say hackers wont figure out a way to allow that? But then sony will battle back with a firmware blocking them again. Sony even has a way to figure out who is using the hacks and can permanently ban the system from the psn forever or maybe worse so again not worth the time and effort just play nice.

yea for the top you need a torx head screwdriver they sale them at your local hardware store just say I need a torx head screwdriver because thats what screwdriver you will need to unscrew your very first screw thats holding the shell in place

I said the samething but man it is easy trust me. Just dont rush take your time and be gentle with it. Like dont juse man handle the insides or rip out ribbon cables. Just follow what he says pause the video when you need to and rewind when you need too. I had no prior experiencein gutting systems but now I can fix a ylod system without the video take it completly apart and put it back together without any assistance. Whats real important seperate your screws and label them or whateva you need to do so you can remember where they go too. Because there is alot of unscrewing also make sure you have the proper screw drivers because when you remove the harddrive caddy you are going to need a precision set of screwdrivers that caddy is what going to stop you from getting to the mother board. when you get that far you will know what I'm talking about its two screws that are easily stripped so make sure you have a precision set. But good luck and take your time I'm sure you will do fine but also try the eject button thing to get your game out before taking it apart if you want.