My samsung 60gig 2.5" external hdd has slowed down considerbly. Is this problem mainly on 2.5" notebook hard drives ? or just as common on desktop external hdd ? This hdd is now 98% with like a 1.5 gig remaining. avi movies stutter. Sometimes files can not be red at all until I reboot. Could this be a mechanical thing. Because the more data u have on it the further the mechanics must move. I know if I delete 50% of the data on it ,it will be much faster again. So basically all I want to know is if this could be the problem mainly on 2.5" hdd ?

So basically all I want to know is if this could be the problem mainly on 2.5" hdd ? No. It is common to all type of hard drive discs and hard drive partitions. As you have discovered yourself, insufficient HD free space is the reason for the HD sluggish performance. With more free disk space the HD performance is enhanced because files can be moved around more easily and more files and programs can be kept open. The more disk space is kept free, the better. Personally I always kept the free space at least 20% or better for every HD partition capacity. Also you should be aware that disk fragmenter will not run on hard drive with less than 15% free space. i_Xp/VistaUser

hey guy, install a gig of ram, see the problem go away

hey guy, install a gig of ram, see the problem go away Care to enlight us as to how this cure the drive low free space issue? i_Xp/VistaUser

Dear XP - I totally agree with your first response, but would have stressed more the importance of de-fragging. On the question of adding memory, I feel this will greatly help (in a number of ways), but only when the disc housekeeping has first been run. I suspect 60 gig is not enough capacity for Auto's reuitrements and it may be worth investing in a larger (e.g. 100 gig) drive which are becoming cheaper all the time. Good Luck - Keep us posted.