NTFS or FAT32?

Reefsmoka

Reefsmoka

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What is NTFS and FAT32? What do they do?

Is one better than the other? If so, which one and why?

I ahve 1 drive in NTFS and the other in FAT32, they seem to be running fine, so does it matter there not the same?
 
think FAT32 is better for smaller drives (ie the time when 98 came out which is why it used it as default) and NTFS is for large drives ie XP

at least thats what i think. May be totally wrong.

the Longhorn file system, however, is the way forward man
 
... and more secure! (security was the idea behind it aswell as it supporting higher partition sizes.

NTFS = NT File System
FAT = File Allocation Table

you can have FAT16 or FAT32 file systems, these are of no really use now with modern sized hard disks and operating systems.

If you want to learn more then read Ian's article (click here), an excellent read!

chris, longhorn file system??? what??? i'm sure they'll be a new file system for it, but what have you heard???

J
 
I, too, am curious about this Longhorn file system.

From my experience, I prefer NTFS.

Only advantage of FAT 32, as far as I can work out, is it's easier to rebuild/recover Win XP within a FAT 32 system, Win XP installed on an NTFS partition is nigh on unrecoverable.

I mean, let's face it, has anybody ever fully recovered a crashed Win XP install on NTFS?

If so, I'd be pleased to hear of your experiences, purely out of curisoity ;)

Not that XP has ever crashed on me, but I have tried to recover a few friends' systems, haven't ever yet managed it :(
 
Windows Future Storage (Win FS) file system will take its place in Longhorn, the successor to XP. For the first time, a server technology will manage data on home PCs via a relational database.

Don't hold your breath though, we may or may not see WinFS in Longhorn. ;)

In answer to your question Reefsmoka ...
NTFS brings a host of improvements over FAT systems. The most important are optimized memory utilization in larger volumes, error correction following crashes, protection against unauthorized data accesss, an index service, compression and data encryption. The recovery characteristics of NFTS deserve special mention: Windows records in real time all modifications to the file system with checkpoints that it then uses to background-correct system errors in the event of a forced reboot. NTFS can manage partitions of several hundred terabytes (one terabyte is one million megabytes). As for security, administrators benefit mainly from the integrated protection functions such as the user access policies for files and folders, and EFS (Encryption File System).
Click to expand...
I have 1 drive in NTFS and the other in FAT32, they seem to be running fine, so does it matter there not the same?
Click to expand...
Yes & No ... No it doesn't matter as XP will quite happily co-exist with FAT (and Linux's file system), however, XP still has a 32Gb limitation if you want XP to "format" a drive using FAT ... if you can, use NTFS on all XP drives.

WinFS will screw all that up by NOT being able to "see" FAT, NTFS or Linux. :confused:
... In the end, Win FS will probably emerge as an optional file system beside FAT and NTFS. It's also possible that Win FS will supersede its predecessors, however ... that would most likely produce problems for multi-boot systems, since the only way Windows XP, Longhorn and Linux would all be able to access one and the same volume would be through complex methods - if at all.
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We may see "Longhorn NTFS" and "Longhorn WinFS" as we see WinXP Pro and Win XP Home ... I wouldn't put it past MS to do this. :rolleyes:

:D
 
Re: Forgot to answer your question Flopps

I mean, let's face it, has anybody ever fully recovered a crashed Win XP install on NTFS?
Click to expand...

I did ... once.

It must have been a fluke though, and, took me all day to achieve ... MS’s website has all the "destructions" (sic) on how to do it, however, the simple method I recommend is ... re-format.

:D
 
You'll all make a computer genius out of me yet :p.

Cheers all, its cleared up alot.
 
I used FAT32 when I had a DBOS (ME/XP) coz I heard it made it easier for the OS` to communicate between each other. Have gone to just XP now, still use FAT and as far as I can tell, it formatted my 120GB disk nae bother. I doubt if it`ll make any difference to anyones preferences, its just my experience (if you can call it that)

:)
 
Kenny, when the opportunity arises, or when ‘that catastrophic error’ occurs … do yourself AND your system a favour and clean install using NTFS ;)

:thumb:
 
NTFS is by far the more stable and reliable file sytem.I have been using it for quite some time now and have found it excellent. NTFS also offers security to a network operating system and can be configured to control who is allowed to access what. It also offers the ability to set disk quotas to control how much space a user can occupy. I only ever consider FAT 32 when I am using Windows 95 or 98. Hope this helps.
 
pompeyrodney said:
NTFS is by far the more stable and reliable file sytem.I have been using it for quite some time now and have found it excellent. NTFS also offers security to a network operating system and can be configured to control who is allowed to access what. It also offers the ability to set disk quotas to control how much space a user can occupy. I only ever consider FAT 32 when I am using Windows 95 or 98. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Could not have said it better.
 
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