PlayStation®3 Support

[SymponicFantasia]

A friend of mine called and asked me if I could help him, which I couldn't, so I'm asking here;

He said he got the red screen, and when he went to safe mode, all options he tried (all but the "complete format" one) just led him back to the red screen. Is there anything he can do to salvage his data?

[gkpama00]

We don't hear about the red screen of death very often, but no. If the other options short of Restore PS3 System do not allow the PS3 to boot to the XMB, then there is no alternative except to use that option.  There is no way to copy the data off the PS3 if it won't boot, and the data on the PS3 hard drive cannot be recovered after the system is restored. That is why the system has a Backup Utility.  If the PS3 boots in Safe Mode, then there is nothing seriously wrong with the hardware (except possibly for the hard drive, but in that case the data is already unrecoverable).