120 Macworld • August 2019HELP DESK
referencing files with hard links. These links allow
the same file to appear as if it’s in multiple places on
a single volume, even though only a single copy of it
occupies space on the disk.
Despite Apple’s adoption of APFS, Time Machine
cannot use volumes from drives in this format. It’s
more likely that you have a disk formatted at some
point for a Windows or Unix system, likely using
MS-DOS FAT or ExFAT formats.
If you want to use a disk in one of those formats,
first back up any data you need to preserve from the
disk: there’s no way to reformat without erasing the
drive’s contents. Next, follow Apple’s instructions
to erase and reformat it as a Mac OS Extended
volume (fave.co/2S8eyyf).
When the volume mounts again, Time Machine
will recognize it as a destination.What to do if your Mac’s hard drive
starts unmounting itself unexpectedly
When you mount a drive in the Finder, you expect
it to stay there. If you’ve found that your previously
reliable external hard disk drive or SSD starts
ejecting itself, trouble is obviously afoot.
The message ‘Disk Not Ejected Properly’ usually
appears when you unplug a cable or disconnect
power to a drive without making sure the disk has
unmounted from the Finder after selecting it and
choosing File > Eject [Name] or clicking the Eject
icon next to its name in the sidebar.
If happens other times, it’s never good. Some
readers have found this problem is related to