Fat 32 versus NTFS

[andsome]

I popped over the road yesterday to configure INTERNET access for a friend, who had just bought a refurbished computer. It is running XP SP2. I was very surprised to see that it was set up as Fat 32 instead of NTFS. I have always been led to believe that NTFS is better. Am I wrong in this assumption? They use it to store and edit still photo's, access the INTERNET and e-mails, and general office work like typing etc. Should they convert to NTFS, and if so how do I do it please?

[trackrat]

Read this Andsome.

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechn...convertfat.mspx

[expertec]

Before converting (should you decide to do so) remember to backup!

[CurlyWhirly]

To be honest, when I installed Windows XP I don't even remember seeing a FAT 32 formatting option.

I thought that XP was only compatible with NTFS, obviously this isn't the case after having read this thread.

[homecomputeraid]

XP will use FAT32 or NTFS, but remember that file level security is only available for NTFS. I think NTFS is a more robust and secure file system. If you do convert, remember to defrag afterward. Sometimes Windows does so automatically, but if it doesn't do a manual defrag. They allocate space differently resulting in pretty extreme fragmentation when you change.

[D4\/!d]

Here is a very good article about the FAT and NTFS file systems in Windows XP

[Chris]

To be honest, when I installed Windows XP I don't even remember seeing a FAT 32 formatting option.

I thought that XP was only compatible with NTFS, obviously this isn't the case after having read this thread.

Depends on the partition size.

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

I have several partitions that I kept in FAT32 format, mostly because it's old, archived data. Important data and the OS partition are NTFS, because it's more secure.

I think one of the reasons why Win9x needed to be repaired/reinstalled from time to time was because the FAT/FAT32 data corrupted more easily.

I'd suggest you convince your friend over the street to convert to NTFS.

If you have PartitionMagic; that's the easiest way to convert/configure a partition. If not, you can use the Convert utility mentioned in an earlier link (but there is no going back with this tool; PM can do it both ways).

Also as mentioned earlier, make sure to have a complete backup before attempting the conversion. Defrag before and after the conversion. (Run CCleaner first, so you don't backup/defrag/convert loads of garbage).

[scuzzman]

There are a few things here:

NTFS fragments much less severely, resulting in less chance of data corruption -- also, it supports NT Security system and is a journaling filesystem.

OTOH, FAT32 is better for gaming because of this. If a drive is trying to keep from fragmenting, and constantly recording (in a journal) changes to the filesystem, it's going to be substantially slower -- thus FAT32 is usually the gamer's favorite because there is no journal, and it doesn't care about fragmentation.

If your friend is just the average home user, I'd go with NTFS.

[andsome]

Many thanks all for your replies. I will let him see them and decide. The ball is well and truly in his court.