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main diff. between ntfs and fat32???

V

Vas_Deferens

Member
Besides the security issue, what is the main diff. between fat32 and ntfs? I notice some programs don't run on ntfs, and i wonder if I should just go with fat32. Also, is it possible to convert ntfs back to fat32 without formatting? Thanks

VD
 
One of the other main diferences is smaller cluster sizes resulting in less wasted space. Unless there is some third party method I don't know about, there is no way to convert back to FAT32 from NTFS without re-formatting.
 
Hi,

In addition to providing the functional structure through which basic NT / W2K security is enabled, NTFS also provides:

1. a greater degree of control over the size of clusters, allowing you to tailor cluster size on a partition to optimize it for its intended use

2. the capability of providing for transparent (to the authorized user, but to no one else) encryption of drives / folders / files (I know this is part of security, but it's a capability that extends far beyond the normal access permissions in its power.)

3. a provision for transparent data compression, not usually a big deal these days considering the drive capacities available, but useful at times, nonetheless

4. a far more robust file system than FAT or FAT32, with journaling and redundant information stores for the system's data ABOUT the files (It also keeps a far more comprehensive set of data about each file.)

5. less degradation of performance due to file fragmentation than that experienced by FAT systems, though defragging is still highly recommended

The only downer I can think of for it is that it does require a lot more system overhead to use than FAT, both from the standpoint of processing power and hard drive space. If you keep more data pertaining to the files, you have to read more data pertaining to the files. However, there is partial compensation for this overhead in terms of processor power because of the more efficient search algorithms used by NTFS. And there is partial compensation for the use of extra disk space in the fact that the file system is so much more protected from data losses.

In general, the larger the partitions and the more files you have, the more efficient NTFS becomes in comparison to FAT and FAT32.

What programs do you have that don't run on NTFS? The only issues I've heard of were installation programs that tried to deduce available space by some method that was fooled by the file system structure. I think all of those types of difficulties can be overcome using the APCOMPAT.EXE utility, but I've never actually run into a program that actually had this problem. (And I support some people who use TONS of legacy crap.)

Oh, and it is possible to convert a partition back from NTFS to FAT32 without reformatting. Utilities like Partition Magic (latest version ONLY if you're going to use it with W2K) can do this trick. HOWEVER, if you have anything on the partition (or any part of the same physical drive, for that matter) that is not backed up, you should back it up to external media before you do this type of conversion. I avoid using third party partition utilities like the plague, but I've had to rescue (or try to rescue) any number of people who've been bitten when using these utilities. Whether the problem was with the utilities or with the users is a moot point. Either the utility was at fault or, at the least, it certainly didn't do much of a job of protecting the user from himself. When there's a failure of the process, however rare the failures may be, it farkles the hard drive BUT GOOD! I saw two drives that we decided not to even try to recover ourselves because of the critical nature of the data on them. (Client was an idiot. Business was totally dependent on the data, and he had no backups, and he was just screwing around with PM to "see what it could do". DOH!) We sent the drives to two different specialty data recovery services, and got around 25% of the data back. That, as anyone in the data recovery business would tell you, means that the drives were well and truly farkled. One of the data recovery guys said that he had never seen data so badly manged on a drive that was physically intact. He had to disassemble the drives to recover the portion of the data that could be recovered.

Hope this is helpful.

Regards,
Jim
 
Vas_Deferens, unless you have a Win2K/Win9x dual boot situation, you should definately use NTFS instead of FAT32 for the reasons jaywallen has already given you.

All programs should run on NTFS unless it's some type of low-level disk utility made for Win95. The only other program I can imagine that might have a problem with NTFS would be a poorly-written DOS application that tries to bypass the operating system and access the file system directly.

Application programs just aren't aware of the file system. It's all handled by the operating system.
 
Thanks for the great and detailed info. The program I'm having a problem with is Drive Image 2.0. I guess I have to get Drive image 4.0 to get it to work, huh?

Thanks,

VD
 
If you're not careful you'll learn that there's a "vas deferens" between 2 and 4.

g,d&r

Regards,
Jim
 
VD,

I was making a play on the fact that "vas deferens" sounds vaguely like "vast difference", in reference to the two versions of Drive Image. Okay, so it was lame. That's why the "grin, duck & run" was added.

We old people like to crack stupid jokes, then beam about them as though we've been witty.

< 8---)

(jaywallen with pointy head, glasses, and long nose)
 
went right over my head, hehe

By the way, do you know how to get rid of items on start up? THey aren't listed in my startup folder, and when I cancel them from my task manager, after a bootup, there they are again.
 


<< By the way, do you know how to get rid of items on start up? THey aren't listed in my startup folder, and when I cancel them from my task manager, after a bootup, there they are again. >>



Basically, there are two general types of items that get cranked up when the OS starts up, services and non-service processes. The matter of which services are started at boot time is controlled from the Services applet in the Administrative Tools. There are some pretty good threads on this board regarding which services can be dispensed with, and how they should be set to not start on standalone workstations.

Non-service processes can start from a rather large number of places:

- In the Startup folder for the current user and for all users.
- In the registry:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServices
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunServicesOnce
and from the
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows, the &quot;run&quot; and &quot;Load&quot; keys.

Many processes which start in these locations can be prevented from starting by going into their options dialogs and telling them not to start. But the startup behavior of ALL of them can be controlled by editing the appropriate registry keys or changing the contents of the appropriate startup folder OR by accomplishing the same thing much more easily with a utility. The one I use is Mike Lin's Startup Control Panel, an elegant and effective freeware utility that is simple and absolutely reliable. It's available in two forms, Control Panel applet (the one I use) and executable, on this page.

Hope this information is helpful.

Regards,
Jim
 
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