FAT32 Vs NTFS

My system is currently running FAT32, but having some problems with files over 4gb. I have heard converting to NTFS is a good thing, but unsure about it. What are the advantages/disadvantages for FAT32 and NTFS. Also how to convert it and if I do convert it, will I lose all my data on my computer?

Of course NTFS is always the better choice, except for compatibility reasons. If you want to access the HD from a different OS, and I don’t mean over the network, you might need FAT32. As converting is a very low level operation, you should have your data backed up. I am not even sure if there are any direct conversion tool, usually changing the filesystem requires formating your disk, and I guess you know what that means for your data.

As for advantages, you will be able to have larger files, larger partitions. NTFS also help protecting your data from other users on the same system. You can set permissions for your files etc. I am not sure if there are any performance differences, but the above reasons should be good enough.

Overall, NTFS is not as out of date as FAT32

Thanks for the reply. I have another question. I have my HD split off into a primary and slave drives, can I change the slave drives to NTSF and keep the primary FAT32? Will there be any conflict?

When I upgraded from 98 to 2000, all my old files were left in FAT32 and the new partitions were NTFS. Then I changed all the FAT32 to NTFS with no problems or loss of data. There is a windows utility that does it. You should have it.

Somehow I think I heard of that utility before, but I still would suggest to back up your data. It is a very low level procedure, and might ruin your data. Just a power surge at the wrong moment or some unexpected corruption of the FAT32 filesystem.

I don’t think that there would be any problem, if one drive or even partition is in NTFS and the other in FAT32. But I have never tried it, so don’t blame me. Always blame M$

No prblem at all having some partitions in NTFS and others in FAT32. I do it all the time. It’s common to have the Windows partition in NTFS and the “backup” partition in FAT32.

I think i’ll try it them, i’ll convert one of my slave drives to NTSF and hopefully that will repair the problems I am having ATM, thanks everyone!

I run XP with the OS partition as NTSF and another (smaller) partition as FAT32, works without any problems.

you have files that big??
4 gb a file?

[quote=“robi666”]you have files that big??
4 gb a file?[/quote]
Some of those porno DVDs can get really big.

[quote=“robi666”]you have files that big??
4 gb a file?[/quote]

If you download from a video camera in raw form an hours worth of footage then the file is approx 13Gb in size, 4Gb files are not that big, hell my email file is almost 8Gb in size. :laughing:

I do alot of video editting work, so I need files that can larger then 4gb. Just an update, I converted one of my slave drives to NTSF without a problem, no loss of data. It seems the drive goes faster too.

I use have 2 HDs one with linux (ext3 fs + swap) and the other with a NTFS for my windows xp os and a smaller one (FAT32) where I put my personal files. It works fine for me. That way I can work on both OS and safely write to the FAT32 partition from both systems, since Linux doesn’t really support NTFS and windows will never support a linux filesystem. (yeah, there is tools, but it’s still risky and not as convenient). Another advantage of having one partition with your OS and another for your files is that when you often write huge files onto it and shortly later delete it, you only have to defragment one partition, so the os runs slightly faster.

sunpascal

Hi. I know this is an old thread, but the thread topic is exactly what I want to know. I bought an external 300g hd and it’s formatted in FAT32. I uses XP OS.

Are there any advantages of reformatting this new hd to NTFS? Or should I just leave well enough alone?

Thanks.

[quote=“david_in_taipei”]Hi. I know this is an old thread, but the thread topic is exactly what I want to know. I bought an external 300g hd and it’s formatted in FAT32. I uses XP OS.

Are there any advantages of reformatting this new hd to NTFS? Or should I just leave well enough alone?

Thanks.[/quote]

It will be slightly more secure. If you’re going to delete everything, and you’ll never use other operating systems on it, then fell free to do it, otherwise, it may be more effort than it’s worth.

Truth be told, if you’re an average user, you might never notice the difference.

Thanks!
And thanks for the quick reply!

For internal drives I think NTFS is definitely the best choice. For external/removable drives, I think FAT32 is a better choice since it will be usable on Mac, Linux, or other systems without mucking about. Only use NTFS on external/removable drives if you are absolutely sure it will never be used on anything except a Windows system.

I converted one of my drives from FAT32 to NTFS the other day after reading some advice about security in a PC magazine. It was easy and I had no problems at all. Just got to the command line by choosing Run from the Start menu, typed CMD and then in the command prompt typed:

convert c:/fs:ntfs.

where c was the name of the drive I wanted to convert. It only took a few minutes.