NTFS or FAT32 for Windows XP Professional?

[edison]

Hi..

i have a 80GB 7200RPM PUMA Samsung HDD with 4 FAT32 partitions C D E and F having 25,25,15,and 15 GB partitions respectively.

I had Windows ME installed till this day.Because of frequent crashes i have decided to go for Windows XP Professional.

My question is this..If i am installing Windows XP Pro on a partition, say C: what type of partition would you suggest for that partition...NTFS or FAT32.
I am not sure about which one I should go for.

I have heard that if I have one partition with NTFS and others with FAT32 that may cause compatibility issues.I know that NTFS is more secure but i have spoken to some of my friends who say that NTFS and FAT32 are not cross compatible and the files may be corrupt.I am really confused.......

Kindly advise me on what partition type is beneficial for Windows XP Pro..


Thanks,
Ed.

[HyperTF]

If you intend to stick with XP then go NTFS all the way... much better storage memory utilisation. Also allows for compression and encryption. Just remember that Win98 will not read NTFS though... but I feel you will not need to worry about it. So GO NTFS Unless you intend to have a dual boot set up, then you would need to worry.

One thing...unless you really must have that many smaller partitions I would recommend having either 1 big partition (C: = 80GB) or one small and 1 large (ie. C: = 20GB D: = 60GB)... it is certainly up to you, i just think that will get more and more painful to manage. Just IMO.

Edit: I just found this page which explains it a little more comprehensively: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...october01.mspx

[Panama Red]

NTFS is defintely the preferred file structure for XP. Once you format and install XP on the partition of your choice, you can convert the remaining partitions to NTFS without compromising any data. Here's how:

http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;307881

As far as FAT32 and NTFS compatibility, I've never heard of any problems. If that were true, people who have networked systems of 98, ME, 2K, and XP would be having fits!

[mairving]

Definitely go with NTFS unless you are dual-booting. Other than that you will never miss FAT32 or ME for that matter.

[HyperTF]

Panama, just a query... although converting Fat/32 to NTFS is certainly possible and obviously helpful to prevent data loss, it is not as effective as reformatting and starting with NTFS formatting, is this correct?

[Panama Red]

Originally Posted by HyperTF Panama, just a query... although converting Fat/32 to NTFS is certainly possible and obviously helpful to prevent data loss, it is not as effective as reformatting and starting with NTFS formatting, is this correct?

I don't think there would be any difference between the conversion or the reformatting. You have to install XP first so the reformatting will be done on the C: partition making it a clean install anyway. I'm assuming the use of a full version of XP not an upgrade from ME. I'd definitely not do an upgrade from ME. I've seen too many problems with ME upgrades.

[edison]

Hi..Just a quick question. Assume I have some files on an NTFS partition.As you have mentioned, that indeed comes with extra features such as file-level security,etc. So my question is, when i move that file to a FAT32 partition, what limitations affect the file..does it affect the file,its size, etc. Please explain. Thanks.

[bailey]

I belive it would only copy the data as a fat 32 file, no other changes will take place, you will not copy the security of the file, just the data.
I have never done that so I can't say for sure.
why not try it with a test file and see what happens ?
filr size will not change eather.

[Statica]

When you copy the FAT32 file, it's like downloading something into a particular folder. You copy the data onto an NTFS volume, which means that you will take on the security restrictions of the container folder. Of course the size of the file does not change, but the size the file occupies on the volume will depend upon the clustersize (which is frequently smaller for NTFS anyway). For example, say you have a 50GB hard drive. The cluster size on a FAT32 volume is 32KB while it is 4KB on an NTFS volume (by default, with NTFS you can change the clustersize if you so desire). Now consider that you have a text document that is 2KB in size .. when it sits on your FAT32 volume, it will occupy 32KB of the volume. The same file when sitting on your NTFS volume will occupy just 4KB.
NTFS is just more efficient & secure.
Here's a good read with comparisons: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/u...durham_fs.mspx

[edison]

Thanks for the wonderful reply, Statica. But the Microsoft article leads me to another question..Is there any way to boot to the HDD (in case the OS fails) so that we can backup the files on the OS Partition? And what happens if we use a bootable floppy or CD...Any suggestions are gladly welcome

Thanks for your time once again, Statica

[Statica]

Ok let's examine the issue at source:
- your OS - XP (irrespective of the filesystem) fails what are your options
* You could boot to safe mode and try to correct the issue - your data remains in tact
* you could run a recovery (example: http://www.digitalwebcast.com/articl....jsp?id=8658-0) - your data is intact
* you could run a repair/in-place installation (example: http://support.microsoft.com/default...&Product=winxp) - your data is intact
* you could move your hard drive over to another computer running XP and access your files.
As you can see there are a number of options available to you whether you're running FAT32 or NTFS to recover your data. The only advantage with FAT32 is that you could boot over using a DOS floppy and access your files. However that advantage is severely overwritten by the fact that FAT32 is usually the culprit in a large number of irrecoverable crashes. NTFS is inherently more recoverable because it is a journaling file system. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS

Having said all that, no filesystem is invulnerable to random disasters like through acts of the user and acts of God etc. Don't rely on any method of disaster recovery (if your files are important to you) that does not involve keeping backups on media such as a CD etc. Just because FAT32 is bootable with a floppy doesn't mean that you may be able to recover your files at all.

[edison]

Well said, Stat, Thanks. I am heading for an NTFS partition straight away

With regards,
Ed.

[nic110]

Originally Posted by edison Well said, Stat, Thanks. I am heading for an NTFS partition straight away With regards, Ed.

Hi Hiper TF.
FAT32 or NTFS - it does not have any mean.
XP is wonderful thing.
I have FAT32 at home and my chief installed for me NTSF at job.
You can make FAT32, in some day to change it to NTFS and then replace
back - 100 times in year.
No problem.
I prefer FAT32 because it is faster and weight less. It is importent
for my old 300MHz 64Mb laptop.
And do not keep so many patitions at disk, this makes you to have
many patitions in mind, that is hard. Take it easy.

[edison]

Just a quick question...Today I came across a DVD that came with a computer mag, it was labelled "First multiple-platform bootable DVD". So does this mean that we can boot to the DOS Prompt on an NTFS partition.There was not much info on the disc, but can it really do that on NTFS. I have already come across articles on Microsoft that says that we can never boot to DOS on NTFS..Please clarify, Thanks once again

[Statica]

Not true that you cannot boot to get NTFS access .. check out: http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder/
regarding the CD, I have no idea, maybe it is something like a PE

[edison]

Hey stat...you have been of great help all along..I am just having a look at that link right now.Thanks once again