Today I tried to add several more folders and got the message saying the Maxtor was full. It is 160GB. I right clicked on the Icon on my task bar and opened view backup log. The only date showing on the page that opened up is from the back up dated Monday Jan 3. I then tried going to explorer found the Maxtor opened it up found all the files that I store and use daily and in this folder was a folder that says Maxtor backup. Opened this up there are two files one says Home and some numbers the other file says user and has some numbers. When I opened the file that says Home it has two file folders one says C and the other file says History which in the history has 10 file folders each name level one level two and so on. In the User file folder it has 3 folders one says C one says D and one says history. I think this must be from my old computer 2 years ago. As I had a C drive and a D drive. This new computer only has the C drive. I hope this helps. I am not too computer smart and no one in my family nor friends use computers. Thank you for your help.

If you want to be secure, you should get something to securely erase the files. Otherwise, restoring them is trivial. I haven't used this one, but it was created by sysinternals, which has since been bought by Microsoft. Here is a blog on zdnet that recommends Secure Erase. Here is a link to one that got good reviews at cnet. You can find other examples if you google secure erase files.

Thanks everyone. Lots of useful methods. Mikie - it's good to know about moving entire folders (I don't have my video's in folders - yet - but am just discovering how useful that would be for shows I've recorded for a few seasons - having them altogether). I'd like to double check and ask what "a cmd window" is - and how I'd get there. Again - I have Windows XP (SP3). Sorry to say, Mikie, but I also need more explanation for what "make a shortcut to the destination , within the folder the files are in... then select a bunch of what I want to move, cut&paste onto the shortcut" means. I know someday I'll understand all of this, but I don't know how to make a shortcut to the destination. And once I cut and paste onto the shortcut, what do I do with it? Absolutely there are some big files - so I'm glad to told me to break it up into smaller chunks. I have so far. Thank you. Lynn.

Lotodig, Is there a program? Yes, Acronis is pretty good. Some members of the forum has reported external hard drives that will backup your internal hard drive without having tertiary programs. Actually, what you're trying to do or should do is clone the internal hard drive. Sounds like you've already got the external hard drive. Well, plug it in and turn it on. Now go to "My Computer". Should have something listed there for your external, a D or M or F. Assuming you have XP operating system, open one of your folders and select a file but don't open the file. Now in the top left hand of the page, click on file. A dialog or menu box will open. Somewhere in that box will be the line "send file to". Click on that and then click on the letter designation for your external hard drive. Guess what, you've now completed the first lesson in external hard drive 101. Its really simple. Rather than going through each folder and sending it to the external, get a program like Acronis. It actually clones the internal hard drive. How much of the internal do you want to put on the external? Well, how many files can you afford to lose? Why not just do them all. There was a recent thread about restoring the internal from the external. The poster was having problems and one of the questions asked was, do you have all the incremental clones cause if you don't it won't work. My experience is that incrementals take a bit less time but I simply do the full clone. I keep 3 full clones on the external and when I do the next, I delete the oldest. Its really not complicated and perhaps the hardest part is remembering when to do the backup. I use a thumb drive to keep up to date on daily minor changes and then clone about every week. HTH Bob