NTFS and FAT32

darthcloud

Junior Member
Nov 15, 2003
5
0
0
Hi....

I am using Win2K and i made three partition out from my hdd.... it is ok to have one main partition with my os files as NTFS ..and the rest partition with FAT32 ?

In a network group.. can other computer with FAT32 see a Pc 'sharing folder with NTFS partition ?

Thanks for the reply...
 

Crusty

Lifer
Sep 30, 2001
12,684
2
81
Yes, mixing the types of filesystems would be fine.

As for the networking, it all depends on what OS the other computers are. If they are NT/2K/XP they shouldn't have a problem seeing the shares. Anything else and you might have some difficulty.
 

AndyHui

Administrator Emeritus<br>Elite Member<br>AT FAQ M
Oct 9, 1999
13,141
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When shared over a network, file system is not relevant, as you are requesting the remote OS to do the file access, not your own OS.

Therefore, if you have a Windows 2000 PC sharing an NTFS partition, and a Windows 98 system trying to access that Windows 2000 PC, it's Win2K that will do the work and return whatever Win98 wants. Win98 is not aware of, nor cares what filesystem Win2K will be using when accessing over the network.
 

bsobel

Moderator Emeritus<br>Elite Member
Dec 9, 2001
13,346
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Originally posted by: AndyHui
When shared over a network, file system is not relevant, as you are requesting the remote OS to do the file access, not your own OS.
Therefore, if you have a Windows 2000 PC sharing an NTFS partition, and a Windows 98 system trying to access that Windows 2000 PC, it's Win2K that will do the work and return whatever Win98 wants. Win98 is not aware of, nor cares what filesystem Win2K will be using when accessing over the network.

This is generally true. But for clarification to your answer one thing to point out is that when you copy or move files on the network from a 'higher' file system (such as NTFS) to a 'lower' file system such FAT or CDFS you will lose the higher file system specific features. In the case of NTFS specifially alternate data streams, permissions, and auditing settings won't be copied.

Bill