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NTFS vs FAT32 - pros and cons?

MichaelD

MichaelD

Lifer
I've been doing a bit of research on this topic, but haven't quite found a decent explanation yet.

I've read that for large partitions (over 20GB) that NTFS is better because it has faster seek times. OK, I have a 78GB virtual drive (IDE RAID0) so that would qualify as a large partition.

If I were to reload my OS, or actually have the guts to go to W2K (bwuck-bwuck-bwuck) which one would I use? NTFS or FAT32? Thanks for your time.
 
In many situations, Fat32 can be faster than NTFS when using Win2K. But I don't really care about that, for the most part they perform similar. When I use Win2K, I use NTFS simply because that's what it was designed to use. The only reason I would use Fat32 is if I was going to be dual booting with Win98.

So, FAT32 is and can be faster, but NTFS has far more security features and is just the better choice for a non dual boot system.
 
NTFS, Win2k is optimzed for it, a slight spped advantage. File security if you need it. NTFS recovers from a data crash better than FAT32. Now the bad, Can not recover data from dos, Nortons Ghost can not write a ghost image to another NTFS partition.

Rain
 
what's wrong with NTFS for dual booting?

I use NTFS for dual booting and Win98SE is able to read my NTFS drive using a simple NTFS for Win9x driver...

I prefer NTFS for large file support (over 2gb) and that's about it...
 


<< NTFS Nortons Ghost can not write a ghost image to another NTFS partition. >>



I use Nortons Ghost Multicast server and can image one NTFS drive to a file on another NTFS drive with no problems, I also can to drive to drive NTFS.
 
How many people around here own a copy of Ghost enterprise edition Narse77 ? I suspect not many. Ghost 2001 still does not support the writing of a ghost image to a NTFS partition or drive.

Rain
 
Great responses, thanks. I am confused about something. Here's a hypothetical situation; please correct me if I'm wrong.

I install W2K w/NTFS on my C drive. I have a backup HD (D) that was written in FAT32. I can or cannot copy files back and forth between the two drives? Is that correct? What about opening up MS Access off the NTFS drive and then trying to open an Access spreadsheet that's stored on the FAT32 drive. Thanks gents.
 
Its not a problem MIchael. Win2k can read and write in both file formats without any issues. By the way Ghost 2001 can write a image of a NTFS partition to a FAT32 partition if you go the FAT32 route for backup.

Rain
 
what does ghost enterprise edition let you do? i 'own' a copy and i havent ever used it. its just there.. =)
 


<< I use NTFS for dual booting and Win98SE is able to read my NTFS drive using a simple NTFS for Win9x driver... >>


All this time I was under the impression that Win9x couldn't see or read NTFS partitions. Does the NTFS for Win9x driver come with Win2k? If so this will resolve all the concerns I had about using NTFS on my new system.

TIA
 
anyone looking for the NTFS for win98 driver, it's here

just follow the instructions...basically, copy the required NTFS system files over to your Fat32 partition and then run the install program directing it to where u copied those files to...make a directory for those files as it requires them after the install (i believe)...

read and write access requires the pro version...
 
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