[CentOS] Accessing an external USB disk

I was able to remove the NTFS partition and repartition the HD as a type 
Linux (83).  Next I created the ext3 file system.

If I reboot with the USB drive attached, the boot process hangs, however 
if I turn off the drive, boot and then turn it on, all is fine.

# cat /etc/fstab

shows the drive, but I am not sure how to use it for a backup nor do I 
know how to access it.  Any help would be appreciated.  The drive is 
/dev/sda1.

Todd

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