XP Pro NTFS or FAT32?

[Guest]

Just bought an Acer notebook with XP Pro SP2.

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.

Should I be concerned?

 

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Concerned, probably not for now.
However NTFS is more secure:
http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm

 

[BigJIm]

no, xp works well with both. the only difference is that there is a limited
size of file with fat32.

 

[Vagabond Software]

Just bought an Acer notebook with XP Pro SP2.

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.

Should I be concerned?

I wouldn't be concerned, but I wouldn't go one more day without converting the drive to NTFS.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q307881

Of course, I recommend this with all the caveats of backing up data and so on and so forth, but I have never seen a convert fail or encounter any problems. However, you are dealing with your file system, so complete data loss is a real possibility.

carl

 

[Alex Nichol]

Just bought an Acer notebook with XP Pro SP2.

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.

Should I be concerned?

Such machines often come out with FAT32 in use. For considerations, see
my page www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm. I would myself convert, but you
need precautions (a Toshiba machine I have gets set up with Windows 98
FDISK). See in addition www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm - linked from
the other page

 

[Guest]

The machine came only with an XP recovery disk. If I convert, would the hard
drive be formatted, therefore lose everything? How would I be able to
reinstall?

Don

 

[Crusty \(-: Old B@stard :-\)]

After running the XP recovery CD you would have to convert again to NTFS.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Vagabond Software]

The machine came only with an XP recovery disk. If I convert, would the hard
drive be formatted, therefore lose everything? How would I be able to
reinstall?

If you were to lose everything, you would use your recovery CD and it would restore the machine back to the state it was in when you bought it. That means any applications you have installed or any documents or files you have created would be gone.

carl

 

[Chris King]

Is there any possibility that Microsoft will release a new O/S and only
migrate forward FAT 32 and not NTFS?

Chris

 

[Plato]

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.
Should I be concerned?

Not at all. Let's say your doing a doc and xp crashes. What file system
do you think it will be easier to get that doc off the hard drive for
that presentation the next day.

 

[Tim Slattery]

Not at all. Let's say your doing a doc and xp crashes. What file system
do you think it will be easier to get that doc off the hard drive for
that presentation the next day.

NTFS! It's a journaling file system, which means that it keeps track
of what it's doing in a way that allows it to recover from system
crashes. I've had XP crash (because I stepped on the power strip under
my desk) in the middle of everything. If I was using FAT32 I would
have to sit through a disk scan, at the very least. With NTFS it comes
back up just as if it had been closed normally.

 

[CS]

NTFS! It's a journaling file system, which means that it keeps track
of what it's doing in a way that allows it to recover from system
crashes. I've had XP crash (because I stepped on the power strip under
my desk) in the middle of everything. If I was using FAT32 I would
have to sit through a disk scan, at the very least. With NTFS it comes
back up just as if it had been closed normally.

You got lucky that time. Journaling or not, NTFS is no guarantee that
the file system is not going to get screwed up. I've seen NTFS
systems get mucked up to the point where the only recovery was a
complete reinstall. There are advantages to using NTFS and likewise
advantages to using FAT-32. As far as recovering a crashed or non
working system goes, I'll take FAT-32.

 

[Plato]

crashes. I've had XP crash (because I stepped on the power strip under
my desk) in the middle of everything. If I was using FAT32 I would

That's not an XP crash. That's simply an "improper" shutdown.

 

[BBUNNY]

Just bought an Acer notebook with XP Pro SP2.

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using
the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.

Should I be concerned?

No concern is needed. The only drawback to FAT is the bigger the drive
the bigger the cluster size. This leads to a whole lot of slack space on a
really big drive. Another draw back is the four gig file size limit with
FAT.

 

[Charles C. Drew]

Just to be complete...

FAT32 advantages...

1) Can be read by other operating systems like DOS, Win9x, Linux, etc.
2) Can read the file system using a DOS boot disk.

FAT32 disadvantages...

1) File volumes limited to 32 Gb.
2) File sizes limited to 4 Gb.

NTFS advantages...

1) Can be read by fewer operating systems (DOS and Win9x cannot read it without special software add-ons).
2) Can be used to encrypt files (automatic encryption/decryption) on a per directory or per file basis.
3) Can be used to compress files (automatic compression/decompression) on a per directory or per file basis.
4) Can be used to secure data on a per directory or per file basis (grant or revoke access by user, by group, etc.).
4) Performs journaling to automatically recover from system crashes and improper shutdowns.
5) Defragging using XP defrag or Executive's Diskeeper is significantly faster (4 to 20 times faster depending on the speed of the CPU) on NTFS.
6) File volumes limited to 16 Terabytes or 16,384 Gb (4k cluster size) and to 256 Terabytes pr 262,144 Gb(64k cluster size).

For more specific details refer to the following site...
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
Just bought an Acer notebook with XP Pro SP2.

While looking the computer over, I noticed that the hard drive is using the
FAT 32 system instead of the NTFS.

Should I be concerned?

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Is there any possibility that Microsoft will release a new O/S
and
only migrate forward FAT 32 and not NTFS?

None of knows for sure what Microsoft might do, but it seems
*extremely* unlikely to me. That's the exact opposite of the
direction that's been taken.

I'm not a betting man, but I'd bet against that.

 

[BuddyWh]

NTFS! It's a journaling file system, which means that it keeps track
of what it's doing in a way that allows it to recover from system
crashes.

I have had that situation before... NT crashed, is corrupt and won't
start but there is NO WAY for me to simply boot to a DOS disk,
navigate the NTFS directories in command line and copy out the
files/directories I want to recover, then format and re-install. That
caused me no end of grief trying to figure out how to get my files
out.

I'm sure that there are plenty of specialized tools and utilities that
can be purchased, plus a lot of extra training, but why should I have
to? Everything should be furnished with the OS and what could be
simpler than DOS? If using FAT32 I only need a Win98SE boot disk and
a second IDE hard drive to xcopy the recovered files too.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have had that situation before... NT crashed, is corrupt and won't
start but there is NO WAY for me to simply boot to a DOS disk,
navigate the NTFS directories in command line and copy out the
files/directories I want to recover, then format and re-install. That
caused me no end of grief trying to figure out how to get my files
out.

WinXP, however, isn't WinNT. WinXP's installation CD is bootable, and
its Recovery Console gives one full access to NTFS partitions.
Actually, your concern, or reason for avoiding NTFS, was addressed with
Win2K.

I'm sure that there are plenty of specialized tools and utilities that
can be purchased, plus a lot of extra training, but why should I have
to? Everything should be furnished with the OS and what could be
simpler than DOS?

WinXP's Recovery Console.



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:



You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having
both at once. - RAH

 

[Al Dykes]

I have had that situation before... NT crashed, is corrupt and won't
start but there is NO WAY for me to simply boot to a DOS disk,
navigate the NTFS directories in command line and copy out the
files/directories I want to recover, then format and re-install. That
caused me no end of grief trying to figure out how to get my files
out.

You can boot the XP CD and go into repair mode. There is a command
prompt and yo can copy files to another dis, but I've never tried that.

You can put a non-bootable disk in a good XP machine as a secondary
disk and recover all your files.

You might have heard of Linux. Any bootable Linux CD will let you
copy NTFS files to othe rmedia or over the network.

last of all, sh*t happens, but it happend much much less on an NTFS
file system. I'm amazed by the number of .CHK files I see in the root
of old FAT32 C drives. People don't even know they are there until
they call me. That NEVER happens on NTFS.

 

[BuddyWh]

You can boot the XP CD and go into repair mode. There is a command
prompt and yo can copy files to another dis, but I've never tried that.

THAT is what I was not able to do. I could navigate to the
directories and read the directory, but I could not copy large
directory structures; the copy command was very limited and there was
no xcopy facility at all.

I recall there are a slew of utilities that a tech, armed with
complete knowledge of the Win2k resource kit, could use to repair the
Win2k installation. Fat chance I'd be able to! I just wanted my
files... and I'd re-install Win2k on the new hard drive and be happy!

I remember using a third party utility called NTFSDOS, though that
enabled me to read NTFS partitions in DOS. I can't remember to well
what it's limitations were, but I know it didn't do everything I
wanted.

You can put a non-bootable disk in a good XP machine as a secondary
disk and recover all your files.

You might have heard of Linux. Any bootable Linux CD will let you
copy NTFS files to othe rmedia or over the network.

Excellent idea... but then, if I had such knowledge of Linux, I'd
probably drop using Windows except in a dual-boot mode when I had to
work with office app's. But, I know next to nothing... and simply
don't have the time or drive to learn and Windows does work well
enough... as you say below, it's only when sh*t happens that I curse
NTFS!

last of all, sh*t happens, but it happend much much less on an NTFS
file system. I'm amazed by the number of .CHK files I see in the root
of old FAT32 C drives. People don't even know they are there until
they call me. That NEVER happens on NTFS.

I know what you mean... I recall my Win98SE autoexec had a line in it
to delete them and write out a list to a log. But then I never
noticed CHK files accumulating in my Win2k system when I ran FAT32. I
wonder if the rest of the OS has something to do with that?