What are you using it for? Do you have your computer backed up on it? Are you storing duplicates of photos or music? Do you have stuff on it you no longer need?

I assume you know how to access this drive to see what is on it? (Right click Start, click Explore. In the new window look for the drive in the left side, probably marked as E. Click the small plus sign beside that to drop all the sub menus below. Click any sub menu to see the contents expanded on the right side.)

Then carefully go through seeing what you actually need to keep and what can be deleted. Once that is done run a defrag on that drive. Click Start, click All programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, click Defrag and select the external drive and defrag.

thanks for the replies.

kudzu, yes I use it as a backup, I have all my pictures on there and everything else that goes on there automatically. Although I wouldn't know how to do it, I have assumed that I would need all that info to reload onto my computer if it crashed.

owbist, yes I know how to access the drive contents, and I have already gone through as much as I felt safe doing and deleted a bunch of stuff, then defragged, but it didn't change the numbers much. I also did a disc cleanup.

Well perhaps the next step might be to burn some of that data to DVDs, they are cheap enough and would certainly allow you to create more free space on the external drive.

Regarding how to reload after a crash depends on the program you are using. Acronis for example requires you to create an emergency start up disk which you slip into the player and re-boot then follow along. For myself when I create a backup image I tend to create a full image then delete those earlier images as they are no longer relevant. If you just do incremental backups the situation might be different

owbist, that's what i'll do, burn all the files photos to a DVD and clear it off the external hard drive.

As far as reloading in the event of a crash, I have the "system recovery disks" from the manufacturer HP, I got them at the time I purchased this computer. Is that the same thing you are talking about in your reference to Acronis and creating an emergency start up disk? Do I need more than the 'system recovery disks' that I have?

If they are the same thing and I had Acronis and had to use it to re-boot, would that be and easier task than using the 'system recovery disk' from HP?

OK we need to step back a little. You did not mention your operating system nor the program you use to create your back up image. If you have Vista or Windows 7 it comes with a back up utility. XP does not so you need a third party program such as Acronis True Image or similar.

From what I can see you external drive came with no back up program installed on it.

Using your HP recovery disks will return the computer to the state it was when you first opened the box and set your machine up. All data will be lost unless it is backed up. All bloatware will be installed again, exactly as it left the factory.

Restoring an image created in Vista, Win7 or third party software however returns the computer to the exact state it was in when you created that particular image.

Some (perhaps all) programs offer incremental backups, in other words they add stuff onto the previous back up. Personally I never allow that, I always create a new image then delete the older one. There is no specific reason for that, it is just one of my many quirks.

lotodig-
What your "system recovery disks" would do is restore the computer to the condition it was on the day it arrived. Nothing else would be on there...no Windows updates, none of the software you installed subsequently, none of the files you saved to it, etc. If you want to have a better recovery, meaning having your computer drive restored to how it is today, you need to regularly back it up. For example, I have a 350 GB external Sony drive that came with backup software on it. It automatically backs my main hard drive up once a week. If that main hard drive fails, I'd just put in a new one and restore everything I have on the Sony to it. That way I wouldn't spend hours doing Windows updates, etc. So you should look into doing that yourself in case of hard disc failure.

The voice of experience here. I installed a new hard drive when the original died. I had only pictures, music, and some other documents backed up. So I had to use the rescue disks to re-install the OP (XP). As Kudzu9 has mentioned, I spent hours doing all the Windows updates, re-installing software, and getting rid of the "bloatware". After this experience, I bought Acronis True Image so that I can keep everything, including the Operating System on the external drive. If I should ever need to re-install again, it should be quicker and much easier.

with today's computers luckily windows 7 and vista have the ability to create an image of the drive which is by far the best method of backup to use since it will save the entire contents including the operating system. the older methods of doing file backups were great but now with imaging available it is by far the way to go. And there are many of the programs that are now free. I do have Acronis also but for those not wanting to spend any money you can try some of these.
disk imaging software
DriveImage XML
8 free software to image/backup/ghost your computer (free alternatives to Acronis True Image, Norton Ghost, etc.).

Thanks everyone for all the information. I'm pretty sure I understand now what I need to do.

I'm going to purchase a new external hard drive that has a program that backs up the whole system once a week or so.

Also, in the meantime, I am going to make some disks using the back up program on this computer,(Vista),I found the program that does that.

thanks again everyone