Member Avatar for oalee

== I just need to know, I'm sure I'll be needing the info in the future. ==

Whenever I install win2k over win98/ME or I start on a clean install of win2k/XP, I always choose FAT32. This is mainly because I'm familiar with it, and NTFS can't be seen on win98/ME when I last had a dual boot operating system. What's the difference between NTFS and FAT32? which is better? should I use NTFS over FAT32 on a win2k/XP system? can I view/share files from a computer with NTFS using a computer with FAT32 (meaning win98/ME) over a network?

Please enlighten me...

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Quick take: for Windows 2000 / XP use NTFS for the OS and for your data unless you have a specific compatibility need for FAT32 (older DOS/Win9x booting, some legacy devices). NTFS is a journaled filesystem with per-file ACLs, compression, quotas and on‑disk encryption (EFS) — features that improve reliability, security and manageability compared with FAT32. (learn.microsoft.com)

File-size and volume limits are the main practical difference people run into. FAT32 cannot store a single file larger than 4,294,967,295 bytes (4 GB − 1). That is the real per-file ceiling on FAT32. NTFS supports much larger files and volumes (effectively terabytes and beyond for desktop use), so large installers, disk images and video files are fine on NTFS. (en.wikipedia.org)

About dual‑boot and network access (clears up the Win98/ME worry): older Windows 9x (Win98/ME) cannot natively mount an NTFS partition locally, so if you need to boot into 98/ME and access the same local partition you must leave that partition FAT. However a Win98/ME machine can still access files that are shared from a Windows 2000/XP computer whose underlying volume is NTFS — network file sharing (SMB) is handled by the server, not by the client reading the disk directly. For local/offline recovery you can use a 9x NTFS driver (Sysinternals had an NTFS-for-Win98 helper) or boot a Linux live CD with the ntfs‑3g driver to read/write NTFS. (manpages.ubuntu.com)

If you decide to switch an existing FAT32 volume to NTFS (no data loss in most cases): back up first, run a disk check, then use the built‑in Convert utility. Example:

chkdsk D: /f
convert D: /fs:ntfs

If you convert C: the tool will prompt and schedule the change at reboot. Conversion is essentially one‑way (to go back you must reformat), and conversion can fail if there isn’t enough free space or if files are in use — so make a backup before you start. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes tied to the thread: was right to call out NTFS permissions — you get per‑file ACLs on NTFS — and ’s rescue idea (live Linux/boot media) is the correct approach when you need disk access outside Windows.

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Member Avatar for caperjack

No win 98 or ME will not see the NTFS ,NTFS is more stable and the single file size can be upto 2Gigs .thats the main difference to my knowledge.one way or the other it wouldn't matter what one you use ,thats my opinion !:)

Member Avatar for oalee

so, based on your post, the only difference is that it can handle a single file up to the size of 2Gigs. what do you mean by more stable? stable in what way?
tnx. :)

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

check this out....
this should be the info yous need your welcome :lol:

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

Q: How does NTFS compared to FAT32 in Windows XP, and which is faster?

A: NTFS has much more built-in features than FAT, so generally it is a bit slower.

However it depends on many factors such as cluster size, average file size, etc.

For example, NTFS can keep small files inside MFT entry, so if the file size is less than cluster size, most likely it will be accessed much faster on NTFS than on FAT.

Generally speaking the performance of NTFS on large volumes is higher than performance of FAT32. NTFS performance on small volumes is lower than performance of FAT/FAT32.

Member Avatar for oalee

Thank you very much for the info RC_Razor. what if my win2k crashes and I want to boot from a floppy? is there a bootdisk that can access an NTFS? if there is, then I'll probably have to repartition my HDD to NTFS since everything you've said sums up everything to the NTFS being way much better than FAT/FAT32.

Member Avatar for Jra2003

not sure about the boot disk disk but to add more information on the difference between the two.

The biggest difference comes when you network and share files over a LAN,

FAT: you can specify only down to which folder to share, and you can add a password to it, but anyone on the LAN who has the password can get into it.

NTFS: You can share files down to a specific file and not a whole directory and you can type in which computers can access it. So if you want no one else but a certain computer to read the file over the LAN, you can set it to do so, but not in FAT

Member Avatar for oalee

FAT: you can specify only down to which folder to share, and you can add a password to it, but anyone on the LAN who has the password can get into it.

Can you do that to FAT32 on win2k? I mean, share a specific file?

Member Avatar for Jra2003

no, on fat32, you can only narrow down to the directory, either the whole directory or nothing at all. NTFS adds more flexibility so you are allowed to specify which files to share. It isn't really dependent on the OS just format type.

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

things i didnt know ^ thanks... im also unsure about the boot disk .... and your welcome for the info...

Member Avatar for TallCool1

Thank you very much for the info RC_Razor. what if my win2k crashes and I want to boot from a floppy? is there a bootdisk that can access an NTFS? if there is, then I'll probably have to repartition my HDD to NTFS since everything you've said sums up everything to the NTFS being way much better than FAT/FAT32.

Your new partitions should be NTFS. It's more reliable and can handle larger files. Contrary to earlier posts, it's FAT32 that has a 2GB-per-file limit, the limit for NTFS is much higher.

I generally reserve about a 10 GB partition for Windows, the rest for data. The data partition should be NTFS, too - but be aware that on a slower machine it's more overhead. There are ways to speed it up, see for an example.

has a free-download floppy disk image that, when expanded to a floppy, creates a bootable disk that will allow you to copy files from an NTFS partition to a FAT32 partition (or another hard drive) or a network. The site has other utilities as well, both free and for pay. The Knoppix CD will allow you to do the same thing, if you're able to boot from a CD.

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

I C all and powerful TALLCOOL1.. your knowledge is outstanding ... thanks..

Member Avatar for Roberdin

Also, if you share your computer amongst multiple users, you can restrict access to certain files and folders to yourself only, for example.

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

Your new partitions should be NTFS. It's more reliable and can handle larger files. Contrary to earlier posts, it's FAT32 that has a 2GB-per-file limit, the limit for NTFS is much higher.

I generally reserve about a 10 GB partition for Windows, the rest for data. The data partition should be NTFS, too - but be aware that on a slower machine it's more overhead. There are ways to speed it up, see for an example.

has a free-download floppy disk image that, when expanded to a floppy, creates a bootable disk that will allow you to copy files from an NTFS partition to a FAT32 partition (or another hard drive) or a network. The site has other utilities as well, both free and for pay. The Knoppix CD will allow you to do the same thing, if you're able to boot from a CD.

i thought is was 4GB for FAT32 and unlimited for NTFS, this info from.. not to offend anyone thats just what i thought....

Member Avatar for RC_Razor

NTFS well limited only by the volume size...

Member Avatar for TallCool1

I thought it was 4GB for FAT32 and unlimited for NTFS. Not to offend anyone thats just what I thought....

No offense taken. Actually there is often some confusion about this. As far as I have been able to determine, one bit is reserved for offset (used to indicate whether seeking forward or backwards in a file), which limits an individual file to 2 GB on FAT32.

Member Avatar for oalee

No offense taken. Actually there is often some confusion about this. As far as I have been able to determine, one bit is reserved for offset (used to indicate whether seeking forward or backwards in a file), which limits an individual file to 2 GB.

is that 2 GB for FAT32 or NTFS???

Member Avatar for caperjack

ntfs,which makes it good for video editing

Member Avatar for TallCool1

is that 2 GB for FAT32 or NTFS???

2 GB limit for Fat32. 2 terabytes (the maximum volume size) for NTFS, either version.

Member Avatar for oalee

thanks tall...

Member Avatar for caperjack

Looks like I should have read these sites the other day

Member Avatar for alc6379

*bump*

Thought someone here could use this.
Keep in mind, that if you use NTFS, your recovery options will be SEVERELY limited in what you can do. You won't be able to use DOS, for one thing, to edit files, and make your system bootable again. What people fail to realize, though, is that NTFS was designed to be a government/industry-level secure filesystem. They probably intentionally designed it so you cannot access the filesystem in DOS.

It's kind of a balance. If you can forsee that something may go wrong with your system, and you might need access to your data outside of the OS, then you need to run FAT32. If you're more concerned about permissions and fault-tolerance than you are fixing things using DOS, then by all means run NTFS.

Member Avatar for aceb

how do i format my external drive to ntfs?

Member Avatar for caperjack

how do i format my external drive to ntfs?

one way ,hook it up ,go to mycomputer ,right click on the icon for the drive and chose format ,pick ntfs from the drop down box

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