which filesystem is better?

SanDRocK · May 29th, 2001

Which filesystem is better ntfs or fat32?

**Betamax** · May 30th, 2001

This depends one your configuration. If you have a dual boot setup with any version of Win 9X that is OSR2 or later then you should use fat 32 as these OS cannot support NTFS. However if you have only an NT based Os (ie winNT or 2K ) then you should use this as it is far more efficent at storing files. NTFS also has built in compression and encryption, which is most useful on a laptop, as these often have smaller HDD and the encryption means that if somone steals it they are less likely to be able to get personal details off it.

In my case I use Fat 32 on my main machine as I have a dual boot with win me to run any programs that I can't get to run properly in win2K (there only is one, Black and white). On my older machine it is a straight win 2K box and it has NTFS with compression (the HDD is only 6GB).

May 30th, 2001

NTFS is more secure than FAT32, but because of this security, you cannot write to it properly from other OSes, such as BeOS, Linux, FreeBSD, etc.. If you plan on running multiple OSes, FAT32 is the better choice...

May 29th, 2001	#1 (permalink)
SanDRocK StizowneD Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Edmonton, Alberta Posts: 298	which filesystem is better? Which filesystem is better ntfs or fat32? __________________ Gaming Rig OS= Vista Ultimate 64Bit CPU = Pent D extreme 3.4GHz w/ HT Mobo = Dell mobo based on intel 955X chipset Ram = 2Gigs 667MHz DDR2 SDRam HDD = 320Gig Raid0 Array (2x 160Gig SATA2 (16meg cache each) 10000RPM GFX = ATI Radeon X850 XT Platinum (512Meg DDR3 model) 21" Dell Widescreen LCD Audio = SBlaster X-Fi Fatal1ty on 5.1 Digi suroundsound Faster than a Burning Bud, More Powerfull than a hit from a bong, Able to eat huge amounts of snacks, Look through the smoke.. Its a skunk...... Its a grassfire...... Its.... Its.... GanjaMAN!!! Man of WEED (TM)

May 30th, 2001	#2 (permalink)
Betamax Resident Movie Critic Join Date: Apr 2001 Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland Posts: 9,480	This depends one your configuration. If you have a dual boot setup with any version of Win 9X that is OSR2 or later then you should use fat 32 as these OS cannot support NTFS. However if you have only an NT based Os (ie winNT or 2K ) then you should use this as it is far more efficent at storing files. NTFS also has built in compression and encryption, which is most useful on a laptop, as these often have smaller HDD and the encryption means that if somone steals it they are less likely to be able to get personal details off it. In my case I use Fat 32 on my main machine as I have a dual boot with win me to run any programs that I can't get to run properly in win2K (there only is one, Black and white). On my older machine it is a straight win 2K box and it has NTFS with compression (the HDD is only 6GB). __________________ Superior marketing of an inferior product will always win over inferior marketing of a superior product.

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

May 30th, 2001	#3 (permalink)
CDBuRnOuT Guest Posts: n/a	NTFS is more secure than FAT32, but because of this security, you cannot write to it properly from other OSes, such as BeOS, Linux, FreeBSD, etc.. If you plan on running multiple OSes, FAT32 is the better choice...