TM Disk dismounting itself

My problem isn't constantly backing up - it's that the TM external disk seems to be dismounting itself - I'm not doing it - and I get an error message: Disk improperly dismounted. That started happening as soon as upgraded to Snow Leopard. Problem 1.
As I was troubleshooting this I read your User Tips and discovered that my TM drive is Mac OSX Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) while my Macintosh HD is Mac OSX Extended (Journaled). I've been backing up since the end of February. Short of dumping all the backups, is there any way of changing the format of the TM drive? Problem 2.
If I were to add a second external drive to start backing up from now, how do I make sure the disk format is Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) as you recommend? And would I still be able to access backups from the current TM drive?
I got a reply:
James Pond posted "Re: Constantly backing up" in "Constantly backing up" on Sep 9, 2009 12:42:56 PM.
judithnewman wrote:
My problem isn't constantly backing up - it's that the TM external disk seems to be dismounting itself - I'm not doing it - and I get an error message: Disk improperly dismounted. That started happening as soon as upgraded to Snow Leopard. Problem 1.
As I was troubleshooting this I read your User Tips and discovered that my TM drive is Mac OSX Extended (Case-sensitive, Journaled) while my Macintosh HD is Mac OSX Extended (Journaled). I've been backing up since the end of February. Short of dumping all the backups, is there any way of changing the format of the TM drive? Problem 2.
Unfortunately, no.
If I were to add a second external drive to start backing up from now, how do I make sure the disk format is Mac OSX Extended (Journaled) as you recommend?
Format it yourself, per item #5 in the FAQ Tip.
And would I still be able to access backups from the current TM drive?
Yes (unless the disk fails, of course). Since they'd not be the current ones, you'd have to use the *Browse. . .* option, per question #17 to see them.
And that may be a good idea, if the cause of the dismounts is the drive beginning to fail. Those improper dismounts can damage the directory on the disk; run a *Repair Disk* (not permissions) on it via Disk Utility (in your Applications/Utilities folder).
If you have more or followup-questions, don't hesitate to ask, but please start a new thread; posts here may confuse folks who are having the "constantly backing-up" problem, and anyone with the same problem you're having won't think to look here, because of the different title."
So I'm starting a new topic as James suggested.
I have two questions from his reply:
1. "Format it yourself, per item #5 in the FAQ Tip. " - where do I look for this FAQ Tip? I tried a variety of places but I wasn't successful.
2. "you'd have to use the *Browse. . .* option, per question #17 to see them." Where do I find question #17? In that same set of FAQ Tip that I can't find?
Sorry to be so dense but I'm not technically sophisticated. Don't use the forum often. Don't know my way around.

Hi, again. I didn't see your new thread when I answered the old one.
Just for others who may also be confused, there are three *User Tips* posted at the top of the Leopard/Time Machine forum. Apple doesn't seem to have posted any in the new forums yet, and I occasionally forget which one I'm in (senior moment)
They are:
Frequently Asked Questions
Time Machine - Troubleshooting
and Glenn Carter - Restoring Your Entire System / Time Machine

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