Backup Volume: Any Reason To Use NTFS Instead Of Fat32?

[(PeteCresswell)]

Just got a couple of external USB2 drives - 500 gigs each - to
which I plan to write database-type backups.

They came formatted Fat32.

Is there any advantage in using NTFS for something like this?
i.e. just one or two humongous files that grow with each
incremental backup...

 

[Shenan Stanley]

Just got a couple of external USB2 drives - 500 gigs each - to
which I plan to write database-type backups.

They came formatted Fat32.

Is there any advantage in using NTFS for something like this?
i.e. just one or two humongous files that grow with each
incremental backup...

How about that you cannot have a single file size over 4GB unless you use
NTFS?

 

[(PeteCresswell)]

Per Shenan Stanley:

How about that you cannot have a single file size over 4GB unless you use
NTFS?

Bingo!

Thanks.

 

[Jeff Johnson]

Just got a couple of external USB2 drives - 500 gigs each - to
which I plan to write database-type backups.

They came formatted Fat32.

Is there any advantage in using NTFS for something like this?
i.e. just one or two humongous files that grow with each
incremental backup...

Extra data can be stored along with a file (such as what can be seen in the
Summary tab of the Properties page*) in what is known as an Alternate Data
Stream ("streams," for short). FAT32 does not support streams so they would
be lost.



*For any non-Office document, like a .TXT file. Office documents store this
information inside their regular data.

 

[smlunatick]

Per Shenan Stanley:


Bingo!

Thanks.

If you are not "sharing" the drive with any older versions of Windows
(2000, ME, 98) than NTFS is best.

 

[John John]

If you are not "sharing" the drive with any older versions of Windows
(2000, ME, 98) than NTFS is best.

The native file system for Windows 2000 is NTFS, it can mount and read
NTFS volumes created by Windows XP. However, you are right that Windows
98/ME cannot read or write to NTFS volumes.

John

 

[M.I.5¾]

How about that you cannot have a single file size over 4GB unless you use
NTFS?

Also NTFS is a more robust filing system than FAT32.

 

[-Phil Clemence]

Extra data can be stored along with a file (such as what can be seen in
the Summary tab of the Properties page*) in what is known as an Alternate
Data Stream ("streams," for short). FAT32 does not support streams so they
would be lost.



*For any non-Office document, like a .TXT file. Office documents store
this information inside their regular data.

Thanks to all who answered this for Jeff.
I hadn't had the sense to ask about this yet
I changed to NTFS quite a while ago .. but now I know why !