is FAT32 still alive

[id3dwiz]

I'm just curious, if anyone is still using FAT32.
From what I remember there were some advantages of FAT32, setting a higher cluster size
as well I heard that it's faster for 3D work. Does this still hold true with current HD speeds, etc..

 

[Rip the Jacker]

No.

 

[Amaroque]

FAT32 is hack upon hack.

It's faster on small drives, but the stability problems associated with it aren't worth the small speed increase.

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Unless your running Win9x, Then there is NO reason to be using FAT32.

 

[hopejr]

My grandmother does, but that's because she's still got Win98

I know someone still using FAT16 because they are using Win95 Retail

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: id3dwiz
I'm just curious, if anyone is still using FAT32.

Absolutely!!!
Both of my digital cameras use FAT32.

 

[cubby1223]

My DVD-RAM discs are all FAT32 formatted. My mp3 player is FAT32 formatted.

 

[BFG10K]

Floppy disks, small flash drives.

 

[Amaroque]

Floppy's are FAT12, or FAT16. I forget which. I haven't used a floppy in a long time.

 

[LED]

DOS which is inclusive with FAT 16/32 dosesn't see NTFS partitions as NTFS, but sees them as non-DOS partitions so I use it on a couple of my Puters

 

[hopejr]

Originally posted by: Amaroque
Floppy's are FAT12, or FAT16. I forget which. I haven't used a floppy in a long time.

FAT12

 

[mdaniel73]

I saw a FAT16 drive the other day. A guy was complaining that he tried to install a 200-300MB-ish program on his Dell 8100 (WinME) and he was out of space but didn't believe it. Turned out, his hard drive had died a while back and the "tech" Dell sent to replace it installed WinME onto a 2GB FAT16 partition, leaving the rest of the 40GB drive unpartitioned. Some people shouldn't be allowed near a computer with a screwdriver. Good thing I still had a copy of Partition Magic on me.

 

[Philippine Mango]

I'm still using it. With the problems I had with NTFS I just can't use it right now, I'll think about moving back when I get my whole system setup under control.

 

[biostud]

On my external harddrive, but now averybody I know have winXP, but I haven't got room to store the files elsewere to do a NTFS format.

 

[nortexoid]

was just gonna say, my flash drive, iPod, and CF cards.

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: nortexoid
was just gonna say, my flash drive, iPod, and CF cards.

Exactly! Lots of small storage devices use FAT 32 because they are not big enough to handle the NTFS overhead. So, to answer the original question - yes - FAT32 is very much still alive.

 

[id3dwiz]

hehe, I guess that explains it. NTFS, that is on my next system shall be.
Is the a hit in perfomance between transfering files from FAT32 to NTFS volumes, and vise versa?
I have a 120G hd, fat32 with stuff on it, which I can't reformat, rather keep it at fat32.
From what I remember, windows XP, regognizes both types and let's you transfer back and forth,
what about win2k?

Thanks =)

 

[Insomniak]

N

T

F

S




FAT32 is useful only for legacy support.

 

[nitromullet]

I use FAT32 on my storage HD. That way I can read and write to this HD from Linux and WinXP.

 

[Wolfshanze]

I have a dual-boot 3.0GHz P4 system with both WinME and WinXP on a partitioned 200GB HD.

I still run WinME because there are several programs (that I enjoy) that just don't run on WinXP, period.

Ergo, I have FAT32 on a roughly 60GB partition for WinME and NTFS on a roughly 120GB partition for WinXP.

When in WinXP, I can recognize both partitions as useable (and indeed they are) and in WinME, I can only see the FAT32 C-Drive... the NTFS D-Drive is invisible to WinME.

So I use both formats, as I use both Operating Systems.

 

[montag451]

if you transfer to NTFS from FAT, unless you use a third party partition yoot, you can't return to FAT

 

[Childs]

I have FAT32 on a 200GB external disk. I use it because I can hook it up to just about any OS and I can read and write to it. The same can't be said for NTFS.

 

[Abix]

Originally posted by: GonzoDaGr8
Unless your running Win9x, Then there is NO reason to be using FAT32.

Except for the fact that it allows direct read/write procedures on a backup drive on a dual-boot machine with Windows/Linux.

But thats not a reason.

PS - Ive got a 250GB SATA HD formatted with FAT32. Been using it without a hitch for the past 5 months.

 

[Muse]

Originally posted by: GonzoDaGr8
Unless your running Win9x, Then there is NO reason to be using FAT32.

I multiboot Win2000 and Win98SE, so yes, I use FAT32 some. I have an application that only runs in Win98 and besides, I find that multibooting is a big aid in troubleshooting sometimes.

 

[Amaroque]

Originally posted by: Childs
I have FAT32 on a 200GB external disk. I use it because I can hook it up to just about any OS and I can read and write to it. The same can't be said for NTFS.

You have something like 33% slack on that drive with FAT32... ~66GB wasted!