Offboard HD's now not readable. Saying NTFS

[Fatamorgana]

Whilst my current offboard hard drive is fine, I've tried a few that I have accessed more than once this year and I'm getting a greyed-out image which tells me the drive is Microsoft NTFS.

I can't see this greyed-out image data on the desktop or via Finder, only via Disk Utility.

Has anyone else come across this issue or am I doing something very obviously wrong?

Thanks
FM





only when I use Disk Utility.

I haven't bothered to open up any others just in case I am in someway infecting the drives whilst maintaining a 3x weekly scan with CleanMyMac X, which says I'm clean.

 

[ferrarr]

What Mac and macOS are you using?

 

[Fatamorgana]

 

[ferrarr]

Have you;

Restarted the Mac?
Tried safe mode boot?
Tried a different port?
Also, are the drives connected directly to the Mac or are the connected to a hub?

 

[Fatamorgana]

4x yes.

 

[IWT]

@Fatamorgana

A few comments, if I may.

CleanMyMac X is not recommended here. It's not just that it's not helpful, on occasions it may be harmful. Your choice, of course. We are not here to cause offence, just to give advice as as long-term Mac users.

As regards your External Hard Drive (EHD), how did it become formatted as NTFS? Was that the format it came with? Or did you format it that way? Reason I ask is that NTFS is okay if you are regularly copying/transferring data to and from your Mac to a Windows PC.

If that is not the case, then your EHD should be formatted APFS, probably best, or Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Then you would avoid the problems you now have.

It looks like your TOURO20 is defunct especially if you only access it, or others, once a year.

No fault on you. We don't work that way.

What other backups do you have? Time Machine, I assume you may have as it comes free with macOS? A cloned backup? Or other?

Ask away, we're here to help.

Ian

 

[Rod]

Looking at the screen shot in post #1 showing TOURO20 In Disk Utility there are still three options available Erase, Restore and Mount. Normally I would choose Erase and format as APFS assuming the content was a lost cause but in your case I would try Mount and Restore in that order just in case content can be saved.
Alternatively you could try the drive on a PC if the content is valuable to you.
My guess is The EHD came formatted as NTFS, many do unless specifically stated assume it is and erase name and format as either Mac OS Extended (Journalled) or APFS depending on if it is an SSD, HDD and or what you want to do with it.

 

[ferrarr]

copying/transferring data to and from your Mac to a Windows PC.

Apple/macOS can not write to NTFS formatted drives without help. They can read/copy from it without help.

@Fatamorgana

Have you;
Restarted with the drive connected?
Restarted without the drive connected?

I am assuming your YES to the connected to the Mac or a hub, means directly connected to the Mac?

 

[Fatamorgana]

Thanks,

I'd quite forgotten that we have Paragon. It runs in the background, and I'd quite forgotten its role!

It seems as though they, Paragon, have a conflict with the latest Mac release. Over a few days, as it was a bank holiday, we uninstalled and then reinstalled, then uninstalled a few days later and then reinstalled.

The Mac does not see the offboard hard drives immediately you have to manually point the software at the drive and then, "Mount".

Could I therefore ask, what is the consensus of opinion on Mac cleaning software please?

 

[MacInWin]

Could I therefore ask, what is the consensus of opinion on Mac cleaning software please?

First vote is "don't."
Second vote, if you still plan to do, is Onyx with defaults only, or Maintenance from the same developer. Just leave defaults as it installs.

 

[Rod]

Thanks,

I'd quite forgotten that we have Paragon. It runs in the background, and I'd quite forgotten its role!

It seems as though they, Paragon, have a conflict with the latest Mac release. Over a few days, as it was a bank holiday, we uninstalled and then reinstalled, then uninstalled a few days later and then reinstalled.

The Mac does not see the offboard hard drives immediately you have to manually point the software at the drive and then, "Mount".

Could I therefore ask, what is the consensus of opinion on Mac cleaning software please?

View attachment 36172

I think the general consensus would be; they are unnecessary. Mac's are extremely good at maintaining themselves and many so called "cleaning apps" do almost nothing but use up system resources and take your money.