NTFS ADVISE

[Guest]

I am using dual boot system running windows98 for using DOS based programs &
xp proffessional SP2,both in seprate partitions .
presently i am running FAT32 on both the partitions .Can i update one of the
partiion using XP to NTFS for all the advantages of NTFS over FAT32.

Will all software compatible for XP work perfectly well with NTFS?
Can files saved with NTFS be used in FAT32 on a different PC?
regards
jagjeet

 

[Bob Harris]

Since XP handles the file system, all programs that run under XP with FAT32
will also run under XP with NTFS. One class of exceptions are programs that
bypass the XP file handling routines, such as file recovery software. Those
may or may not also work with NTFS.

Of course, when running win98, it will not see the NTFS partition. XP will
continue to see the FAT32 partition.

WARNINGS: (1) NTFS may require more space than FAT32, so be sure that the
disk has a few Gig free, before attempting the conversion. (2) The
conversion may fail, small chance, but how lucky do you feel? Have a good
backup of all personal files. If possible, have a backup of the entrie
partition, such as via GHOST or TrueImage.

 

[Guest]

some licenced third party software? do i need to reinstall them when
converting to ntfs.
Is the benefit of ntfs over FAT32 relly worth all this risk?

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

The way things are now, both operating systems can see each others
partition.. convert the XP partition to NTFS, and that will become a black
hole to Win 98.. this may or may not become a problem for you in the
future..

 

[Gerry Cornell]

See here:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

--


Hope this helps.

Gerry
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[John R Weiss]

some licenced third party software? do i need to reinstall them when
converting to ntfs.
Is the benefit of ntfs over FAT32 relly worth all this risk?

If you're security conscious, NTFS is worth it. The risk in conversion is very
low, though backup your data prior to doing it, as you would with any major
operation.

I have not had to do any re-installations after conversion.

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

See here:

http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

See also:

http://cquirke.mvps.org/ntfs.htm

If you embrace and depend upon XP's per-user security model, then you
need NTFS for these measures to reach down to the file system.

If you are up to speed with Bart PE asa maintenance OS, then NTFS no
longer poses an unacceptable obstacle to malware management. However,
the recovery tools for NTFS still suck, so your backup infrastructure
should be so solid you can afford to shrug should the HD die.

If you are used to sorting out malware from DOS mode, and recovering
data via DiskEdit etc., then NTFS is going to lose these capabilities.
Then again, so might using HDs over 137G in size, even if FAT32.

 

[Glen]

You can get a driver from Sysinternals that will allow Windows 98 to use
NTFS. I think it is free to use. I've never used it but sysinternals make
quality software.

Glen

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Glen

They also do some quite arcane stuff too.. I am still not quite sure why
anybody would want to use NTFS on a diskette.. it could not be read natively
by a Win 98 machine, and the user of the Win 98 machine may well see the
diskette as fair game for formatting and using sensibly..

I must admit to having misgivings about the usefulness of some of the
software featured on their site..

 

[Glen]

Yeah the quality stuff I was referring to was things like filemon and
regmon. Some of there other stuff is almost like an academic exercise to
see if something can be done but with no practical use as in their ntfs
floppy driver. I thought the ntfs driver for 98 was a good idea if someone
is duel booting. I've never used it myself so have no idea how good it
works.

Glen

 

[cquirke (MVP Windows shell/user)]

Yeah the quality stuff I was referring to was things like filemon and
regmon. Some of there other stuff is almost like an academic exercise to
see if something can be done but with no practical use as in their ntfs
floppy driver. I thought the ntfs driver for 98 was a good idea if someone
is duel booting. I've never used it myself so have no idea how good it
works.

NTFS from diskette is like a crank handle to start a car.

Most of the time, it's "why bother", until you need it. Then it can
become a life-saver!

For example, being able to pick a single file from a stricken NTFS
system (and believe me, they stricken easily, and stay strickened) can
let you do all of the following:
- retrieve a registry hive so that a product key can be read
- retrieve a Eudora.ini that defines lost email account settings
- retrieve a \Boot.ini to see if that's why the box won't boot
- determine whether \NTLDR etc. are present and correct
- pick off crucial lost data
- look for known malware files that have consistent filespecs

If you could write NTFS as well - which is dangerous from any
non-NT-based OS, as well as other versions of NT (risk of
auto-conversion of NTFS file system to newer, or older versions can't
read the newer file system properly) - then you could repair
\Boot.ini, replace bent files, clean up malware, etc.

These days I'd prefer to do all that from a Bart CDR boot, which can
match the NTFS version for XP and later, be safe for writes (as far as
file system compatibiliyt goes), and host a wide range of tools.

OTOH, if faced with a system that either has no bootable optical
drive, or an old NT system with insufficient RAM to Bart, you might be
very glad to have at least some access from a 1.44M boot.