what is an iNode?

[Macrovertigo]

- and why is it in a "lost+found" folder in my Macintosh HD folder? I am going through files and in my Macintosh HD finder window, I see this "lost+found" folder that I never noticed before - can someone tell me what it is, I mainly just want to know that it is normal and I don't have to bother it. it says "iNode14077430". Thanks!

 

[bernuli]

An inode number, like the one you see in that file name is basically a unique id that filesystem uses to track files.

What you see in lost+found is the result of a filesystem check, or Disk First Aid running and finding a some things out of alignment.

Not a big deal, unless you have a bazillion of those files. Then you should find out what is causing it.

B

- and why is it in a "lost+found" folder in my Macintosh HD folder? I am going through files and in my Macintosh HD finder window, I see this "lost+found" folder that I never noticed before - can someone tell me what it is, I mainly just want to know that it is normal and I don't have to bother it. it says "iNode14077430". Thanks!

 

[Macrovertigo]

thanks for the explanation bernuli

that clears up a mystery then. I have a raft of pictures, and I do a little video editing with the affected 2009 Mac Pro, and I know that can try things a bit. I have used disk utility but it always says that everything is fine, is there another diagnostic tool that looks deeper?
I plan to install another internal hard drive in it next week, is there some cloning process that is advised that will shake out the kinks suggested by the appearance of inodes? I am trying to follow advice in the forums on that, and so far I have downloaded SuperDuper but am coming to agree with the comments to stick to disk utility for the process, any advice on that, considering the possible glitches suggested by the presence of the inode file, would be greatly appreciated.

The original hard drive is 1TB, I have been using an iomega 2TB external hd with it for a year, and the new internal hd is 2TB (Western Digital caviar black from OWC)

 

[bernuli]

that clears up a mystery then. I have a raft of pictures, and I do a little video editing with the affected 2009 Mac Pro, and I know that can try things a bit. I have used disk utility but it always says that everything is fine, is there another diagnostic tool that looks deeper?
I plan to install another internal hard drive in it next week, is there some cloning process that is advised that will shake out the kinks suggested by the appearance of inodes? I am trying to follow advice in the forums on that, and so far I have downloaded SuperDuper but am coming to agree with the comments to stick to disk utility for the process, any advice on that, considering the possible glitches suggested by the presence of the inode file, would be greatly appreciated.

The original hard drive is 1TB, I have been using an iomega 2TB external hd with it for a year, and the new internal hd is 2TB (Western Digital caviar black from OWC)

If you simply want to move everything from the existing 1TB drive, to the new 2TB, I would use Time Machine to backup, then restore to the new drive. That will sort things out as it goes file by file and you should endup with a clean file system. SuperDuper is a great program for archiving.

When your computer boots up, it does a file system check, and may fix things without you even knowing, and add files to that lost+found directory.

It is also very possible amisbehaving application may loose track of temporary files that it uses while running. Quitting the program or restarting the computer may result in some lost+found.


B