Mac OS extended (Journaled) format?

I have been using my WD book for Mac for a couple of years now and all of a sudden my Macbook Pro has given me a message saying " The back up disk is not in Mac OS extended (Journaled) format which is required" . Does anyone have a clue what this means and how I recify it. I now feel I am running without back-up.

Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or HFS Plus is a  file system developed by  Apple Inc.

With the release of the  Mac OS X 10.2.2 update on November 11, 2002, Apple added optional  journaling features to HFS Plus for improved data reliability. 

The formatting decides the way the files are stored on your hard disk.

Mac OS Extended (Journaled) is the normal recomended way to format your drives, internal and external.

I always format a new drive as Mac OS Extended (Journaled), immediatly and before use.

 If you wish to change to Mac OS Extended Journaled:

you will need to reformat your drive. And that means moving your data to another location whilst you reformat the drive.

However, You may wish to continue as you are, and ignore this message. Your choice.

It shouldn’t affect you if you are happy with the way it is right now.

To reformat:

Save your data

use Disk Utility, select your disk, and use the Partition Tab. Name the disk, select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and press the Applied button.

If you want to know more about the subject:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_Extended_(journaled)

 Thinking about your options a bit, I think  I should advise you to take the trouble to reformat any drives you have as Mac OS Exxtended (Journaled). You system will be more reliable, long term.

A Mac OS Extended volume can be journaled, which means that the operating system keeps a continuous log (journal) of the changes made to the files on the volume. This log helps the operating system restore the volume to a usable state if a power failure or other problem interrupts the disk’s operation and damages files.

fantastic, many thanks for such a comprehensive bit of help. 

THIS IS THE WAY I  GO ABOUT INAUGURATING A NEW DRIVE AND REGULAR, PREVENTATIVE MAINTANANCE SYSTEM.

 

I use Disk Utilty, immediatly on a new hard drive. I always format a new drive myself. That way I know I have a clean virgin drive with no malicious software on board. Peace of mind. Manufacturer utilities can be temporarily stored on the computer. I use Anti virus software to check everything entering my computer.

Start by selecting the new drive in Disk Utilities source pane. You will see 2 entries for your disk; Use the top entry, not the indented entry below it.

Choose the Partition tab above the main winsdow pane.

Name and select no of partitions required. This could be just one, if that’s all you need. Select Mac OS Extended (Journaled), and choose Apply.

Now, I believe regular preventative maintenance is very important, to ensure the longevity of your drives and to protect your data from corruption or loss.


The following  procedure for Macs takes 5 to 15 mins to undertake. I follow this procedure once a month.

1. Safe Boot Procedure:

Restart computer, holding down the SHIFT key until the blue screen appears.

This procedure rebuilds the directory.

Open Disk Utility, and Repair Permissions on the Boot Disk.

Restart computer.

(you will see in the Disk Utility pane that there are always links to files that are slightly damaged. You will see  DI do a repair job.)

2. Disk Warrior:

I then open and run DiskWarrior on all my disks, internal and external.

Run disk Warrior on all disks to build replacement directories.

For an explanation of why I use DiskWarrior:          http://www.alsoft.com/

  -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Why is journaling needed?

A power outage or system failure interrupts read and write processes, which can cause discrepancies between the file system directory and the actual location and structure of stored files. In an unjournaled file system, drives are in an unknown state after a failure, meaning that there is no record of their activity just prior to the shutdown. Before the server can restart and resume services, it must perform a consistency check that requires going through the entire file system, block by block. This process can take hours on a multi-terabyte volume, resulting in an unacceptable period of server downtime.

Journaling accelerates the recovery time after an unexpected shutdown, significantly improving the availability of server and storage systems. When journaling is turned on on a storage volume, the server automatically tracks file system operations and maintains a continuous record of these transactions in a separate file, called a journal. The operating system can use the journal to return the file system to a known, consistent state after a failure. This eliminates the need to perform a consistency check on the entire file system during startup. Instead, when the server is restarted, Mac OS X simply replays recent transactions in the journal, bringing the system up-to-date and resuming operations that were interrupted during the failure. With a journaled file system, server restart takes just a few seconds, regardless of the number of files, or the size of the volume.

Backward Compatible

Journaled file system is part of a set of incremental enhancements to the Mac OS Extended file system, and it is backward compatible with the Mac OS Extended file system. Users can read, write, and access journaled Mac OS Extended volumes on computers that do not have a journaling feature.