The 21st Century is a wonderful time in which to live. It *is* possible to work safely and reliably in a Windows environment *with* storage drives formatted for use on Apple hardware {Mac OS Extended (Journaled), also known as HFS+}. To do so, you will require reputable 3rd party software: ## Mac Drive 11 Standard [https://software.owc.com/product/macdrive-11-standard/](https://software.owc.com/product/macdrive-11-standard/) For students on a budget, an Academic Discount is available on OWC Software: ### Mac Drive 11 - Academic Verification [https://software.owc.com/academicpurchases/](https://software.owc.com/academicpurchases/) ## A WARNING ABOUT exFAT > [!Warning] WARNING >While seemingly convenient, exFAT volumes are _not_ a journaled format, which leave zero provision for maintenance routines in the event of drive, directory, or file corruptions. >     >Such errors and corruptions become particularly common with projects on large volumes such as external hard drives, especially in the event of unexpected disconnections, power outages, and application crashes. Over time, these errors may accumulate and render a drive unmountable. > >Further, exFAT is not _always_ reliably cross-platform. In recent years, we have seen a number of exFAT drives refuse to mount in macOS, which were first formatted in a Windows environment. # THE BENEFITS OF Mac OS Extended (Journaled) AKA: HFS+ > [!Success] FUNCTIONAL & MORE SAFE > On the other hand, HFS+ macOS Extended (Journaled) _is_ a journaled format, which makes the drive (and its data) more resilient against unexpected disconnections, power outages, and application crashes. > > Further, there is software available ([Alsoft's Disk Warrior](https://www.alsoft.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwgZCoBhBnEiwAz35Rwv-fgBNhBqFm9vl-6nmMOOLGO8T-PCvIsYf2dgmSu7nvhEgptJp-bhoCTW4QAvD_BwE)) which may bring macOS Extended (Journaled) drives 'back from the brink' if corruptions occur and an HFS+ drive becomes unmountable. However, exFAT is not compatible with such tools and maintenance routines. > > With software such as Mac Drive, an HFS+ macOS Extended (Journaled) drive _is_ reliably cross-platform, and is a far safer alternative to working on an exFAT volume.     ## SAFE HANDLING of STORAGE DRIVES (HDDs, SSDs, Memory Cards and Thumb Drives) > [!Idea] PARITY > If data isn't stored on at least two (or three) storage devices, it may not exist at all (in the event of a catastrophic drive failure). Rather like [Schrödinger's cat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schr%C3%B6dinger%27s_cat"). > [!Danger] MINIMUM FREE SPACE > Always leave a minimum of 10% of every drive's total capacity free and empty at all times. For example, if a 2TB drive has only 200GB's of space remaining, it is effectively **_full_**. > - Exceeding a 10% minimum-overhead of empty space is a very common cause of trouble and data loss. Applications run slow, crash more often, The Gremlins get hungry, and eventually an overfilled drive will 'lock up', and not have sufficient space to even conduct maintenance routines (which, if it is unmountable, may effectively lock you out of making another copy of its data). 👾👾👾 > [!Warning] SAFE HANDLING > Always 'eject' a drive or shut down the workstation prior to moving or disconnecting a drive. > - Unexpected disconnections should always be avoided, particularly when the drive is being accessed by an application or an operating system. > - The USB and power cables should always be disconnected from the drive enclosure, prior to packing a drive away or carrying it elsewhere. > - Leaving a cable connected to a port when transporting a drive effectively acts like a lever, which will physically damage the interface circuit board within the enclosure.