How do I free space from erased files on external HD: MAC

[Philipw2]

I have an iMac with a 250 GB LaCie external Hard drive for backup. Now the external hard drive is full and I can no longer do backups. I erased some of the older backups, by dragging them to the trash and they were registered as erased. But the space they occupied has not been released. How do I free the space from erased backups on my LaCie hard drive?

thx

[belashti]

I hate to ask this question but I will anyway: Did you empty the trash? :o

[Philipw2]

That was the first problem. Thank you for pointing it out. While I have had decades of experience on the PC, this is my first Mac. So I am making baby mistakes.

However, even after I freed up the space the LaCie backup software wouldn't wrk. But I used another piece of software and it worked like a charm.

Thanks for not being afraid to point out the obvious. Sometimes it is necessary---my wife does it all the time when she sees me standing in front of the fridge.