NTFS and Dos

[Cameron]

Hi All,

I am thinking of using Win XP Pro and a wannabe server for our little
office. If it is formatted as NTFS, can dos programs on the network access
files on this computer, or do I have to have it formatted as FAT?

Cameron

 

[kawipoo]

Dos can only access fat. There are special DOS programs which can view NTFS
files.

 

[KG1]

Yes, any network computer and/or programs can access the file system (NTFS)
on your XP Pro "wannabe server". Over a network, the file system doesn't
have the restrictions that you have when you dual boot (for example).

KG1

 

[David H. Lipman]

What KG1 said is correct plus...

You want NTFS for an Office for Security reasons !

Dave



| Hi All,
|
| I am thinking of using Win XP Pro and a wannabe server for our little
| office. If it is formatted as NTFS, can dos programs on the network access
| files on this computer, or do I have to have it formatted as FAT?
|
| Cameron
|
|

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

Hi,

Makes no difference. The file system and data in it is interpreted by the
operating system, not by the remote machines accessing it. It wouldn't
matter what operating system is on the other machine trying to access it:
dos, linux, os2 not withstanding.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Rick \Nutcase\ Rogers]

That only matters on the local system. On a network, each system's operating
system interprets the data and file system that is presented to other
machines on the network.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers aka "Nutcase" MS-MVP - Win9x
Windows isn't rocket science! That's my other hobby!

Associate Expert - WinXP - Expert Zone

 

[Plato]

Makes no difference. The file system and data in it is interpreted by the
operating system, not by the remote machines accessing it. It wouldn't
matter what operating system is on the other machine trying to access it:
dos, linux, os2 not withstanding.

Reminds me of this job my partner and I had. We had to copy the hard
drive from this old and dying server and the Syquest drive we had [yes
this was a long time ago] didn't see
the fat32 partition. So we had to connect the drive to an even older
win95 box on the network and we were able to see and copy the server
contents. Nice on-site lesson in networking.

 

[Alex Nichol]

I am thinking of using Win XP Pro and a wannabe server for our little
office. If it is formatted as NTFS, can dos programs on the network access
files on this computer, or do I have to have it formatted as FAT?

You can access it over the network. It is the XP on the machine
concerned that access the files, and then passes them across the net to
the other machine. The files are the same in themselves, no matter what
system they may be held on at any moment

 

[NobodyMan]

Hi All,

I am thinking of using Win XP Pro and a wannabe server for our little
office. If it is formatted as NTFS, can dos programs on the network access
files on this computer, or do I have to have it formatted as FAT?

Cameron

It doesn't matter, in that case, what you format the partition as; in
fact, in a network setting you'd be better off using NTFS for security
reasons.

Bear in mind the connection limitations of XP Pro. You can only have
10 concurrent connections. This doesn't mean 10 users can connect at
once, as some processes open more than one connection at a time. You
could stand a good shot of continually getting access denied messages
when that 11th connection tries to open.

If that is a problem, you may just face up to having to get a true
server OS.

 

[Cameron]

Thanks everyone, It has been a great help
Cameron