How do I free up hard disk space on my iPod?

[ePod]

I'm a relative newbie on this forum, and I hope someone can help. I am using a Windows XP platform and iTunes to organize my songs.

I get flustered when I delete songs on my iPod through iTunes and see no changes to the capacity on my iPod's hard disk space. I have already reformatted my iPod once because it was filled to capacity and wouldn't allow me to free up anymore space. I really don't want to do it again in order to clear out space.

Does anyone know a way to delete an mp3 file on my iPod rather than simply 'hiding' it?

[chef8489]

First all are you using manual mode?Are you deleating it off the Ipod or off the Library?

[ePod]

Thanks for replying to my dilemma, chef8489. Somehow, your post made me think twice about how I was deleting my songs on iTunes and it dawned on me that I was only deleting songs within my playlists.

Apparently, the playlists only hold directories the actual files themselves don't get deleted.

Only when I clicked on the iPod icon (located under the "Source" column on the left side in iTunes), and located the files I wanted to delete did I see a change in my hard disk space.

So, take note. Deleting songs on your playlists DOES NOT erase the actual files.

[macafied]

If you delete songs from your Library in iTunes, the next time you sync with your iPod they will be removed from your iPod to reflect the change in iTunes. I believe this only works if you have iTunes set to automatically update your iPod.