How can I move my PSP game saves onto my PS Vita?

Question

I have an old PSP and a PS3 and PC. I have a bunch of PSP game saves for PSN games (patapon ect) that I would like to move over to my Vita because they work on the Vita.

How can I move my PSP's save files onto my Vita?

Answer 1

Copying your PSP save data

Plug your PSP into your PC with a Mini USB cable (the kind that fits into the top of your PSP) and select the USB Connection option in the PSP System menu.

The PSP should show up as a connected drive in your My Computer menu. It's probably called "Removable Disk" if you're on Windows. Open that drive and navigate to the PSP folder.

Copy the SAVEDATA folder onto your PC somewhere like you Desktop. That folder has all your PSP saves and we'll copy them to the PS Vita soon. If you're concerned about how much space the data will take up on your PS Vita, check how large this SAVEDATA folder is, you're about to copy that much data onto your Vita. If it's too large, we can only copy the specific games you want the data for later.

Prepare your PS Vita to copy the files

Download any one PSP game onto your Vita and play it enough to generate a save file. Any game will do, it doesn't have to be a game you want to copy the save data for.

Install the PS Vita Content Manager Assistant for Windows or Mac OSX.

Connect your Vita to your PC with the USB cable and open up the content manager. Pick Copy Content: PS Vita System -> PC -> Applications -> Save Data (PSP/Other).

You should see the game you played earlier in a list; tap the PSP game to select it and hit copy. Click Okay to copy it onto your PC.

Find the folder on your PC the Vita copied to; it should be in your Documents folder in a folder named PS Vita, in that folder there's a folder called PSAVEDATA. In that should be a single folder named with random letters and numbers. Open that folder; this is where we're going to copy the PSP Save Data.

Copy the files onto your Vita

Open up the SAVEDATA folder from earlier, those are your PSP saves. Also open the PS Vita folder we mentioned before that has your PS Vita's copy of the save files (you want to be inside the folder with the name that's random letters/numbers). Copy and past ALL folders from the SAVEDATA folder into the folder named with random letters. Say Yes to any dialogs that ask if you want to merge/copy files; this means you're overwriting the Vita's copy of the save file with the PSP one.

Now just open Content Manager on the Vita again and pick Copy Content: PC -> PS Vita System. Pick Applications -> Saved Data again. You should now see all of your PSP save data. I recommend hitting Select All and just copying all of this data over. You can also pick and choose just the games' data you want to copy over if you want to save yourself some space.

Pick Copy and hit Okay again, it will ask you if you want to overwrite any data you have on the PS Vita for the PSP games; you want to do this, so click Apply to All and tap Overwrite.

Your PS Vita now has all save data from your PSP and you can keep it there forever, and it's also stored with your PS Vita backup. Any time you download a PSP game onto that Vita, it will start with the save data you copied from your old PSP, no need to repeat this for each game!

Answer 2

Here how I did it with my Final Fantasy Tactics (FFT) save files:

I can't guarantee it'll work for you.

Your PSP save games are accessible in the memory stick you used to save your files. Find a way to read the memory stick in a PC with a memory card reader (I don't know if you can backup your files from your PSP direclty to a computer...). The memory stick will have a folder structure like (GAMES, SAVEDATA, etc.) In the SAVEDATA directory you'll find a bunch of subfolders for each of your games that had a saved data on this memory stick. Locate the folder/s you want to import into your PSVita (for me it was a folder named ULUS10297FFT0000).

Download the PSP games you want to play to your PSVita system. Optionally, to facilitate the transfert, play your game until it create a save game. Then plug your PSVita to your PC and install the Content Manager. Once installed you will be able to save games and files to your PC. Open the Content Manager App inside your PSVita system and select the "PS Vita System to PC" option, then "Applications", then "Saved Data (PSP(tm)/Other)". Check all the game you want to import the save game for and press "Copy". This will copy the data to your PC.

Go to the locations of the save files in your PC. (by default it should be inside your "My Documents" folder in a folder named "PS Vita") There'll be a folder named PSAVEDATA. Inside of it there'll be another folder with a random name that is, I think, a reference for your PS Vita system (In case you have multiple systems saved to the same PC). Open it and you'll find a list of folders with names that looks just like the folder in your PSP memory stick SAVEDATA folder. Copy the whole game save folders (ULUS10297FFT0000 for my FFT) into the your PS Vita save game folder ("My Documents/PS Vita/PSAVEDATA//") to replace the folders your games created.

Now return to your Content Manager app in your PS Vita. If your are still at the previous copy screen then press "Cancel" and the back arrow until you can choose "PC to PS Vita System" option, then "Applications", "Saved Data...". Check the save game you want to import, press "Copy" and it should be done. You can now go verify into each of your game to make sure your save games have been imported correctly.

Answer 3

One other thing to note. First, if you find the Content Manager icon in the system tray (by the Clock on the task bar), you can right-click on that and pick Settings. On the settings screen toward the bottom there is a hot-link that takes you directly to the folder where you should copy your save files. There are even directions on screen telling you how to move your PSP save files.

I was able to move PSOne classic saves such as FFVII, FFIX as well as PSP saves (Lemmings) and PSP minis (Tetris) by following the on-screen directions. Before trading my PSP Go in to Best Buy, I copied all of my saves files to a NAS drive from my Mac. Then I copied them from the NAS to the PC where I have content manager installed today. Point being, if you have the files saved somewhere, even if you no longer have a PSP this will still work.

Answer 4

Plug your PSP into your PS3 with a USB cable and select the USB Connection option in the PSP System menu. Copy the PSP games into your PS3, then unplug your PSP and plug your PS Vita to your PS3 and it will automatically copy the PSP games into your PS Vita.

Answer 5

Plug your PSP into your PS3 with a USB cable and select the USB Connection option in the PSP System menu. Copy the PSP games into your PS3, then unplug your PSP and plug your PS Vita to your PS3 and it will automatically copy the PSP games into your PS Vita