Windows File Systems (FAT16, FAT32, NTFS)
Last Updated: 08 Feb 2004
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*** PLEASE NOTE: Link(s), If Provided, May Be Wrapped ***
On Intel based hardware running Windows NT/2000, there
is absolutely no reason to make use of FAT partitions,
not even for the purposes of booting multiple operating
systems (use a boot manager).
Although Microsoft has, in the past, recommended the
use of FAT partitions to allow for easy system recovery,
there are now more than enough methods of recovering an
NT system that cannot boot.
In fact, it has been my experience that FAT partitions
are more susceptible to disk corruption, lost clusters
and performance degradation than NTFS partitions.
A well maintained NTFS partition is considerably more
robust than a corresponding FAT partition, so you have
less need for recovery procedures.
NTFS supports security, journaling, encryption (in Win2K),
compression, and tremendous file/partition sizes.
NATIVE FILE SYSTEMS
• DOS/Win3x .............. FAT16
• Win95 (original) ....... FAT16
• Win9x/ME ............... FAT16, FAT32 (except Win95 original)
• NT4 .................... FAT16, NTFS
• XP Home ................ FAT16, FAT32, NTFS (without security)
• 2000/XP Pro ............ FAT16, FAT32, NTFS
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NOTE: The network redirector handles file requests for
remote systems, which enables you to obtain data
from systems whose file systems you could not
read natively.
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WHY CHOOSE NTFS?
• http://www.ntfs.com/data-integrity.htm
• http://www.winplanet.com/winplanet/reports/572/1/
• http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/winnt/filesyst.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/ntfs.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/using/productdoc/en/choosing_between_NTFS_FAT_and_FAT32.asp
• http://www.smartcomputing.com/editorial/article.asp?article=articles%2Farchive%2Fl0809%2F15l09%2F15l09%2Easp
MAXIMUM FILE/PARTITION SIZES:
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/winnt/filesyst.asp
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=184006
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=118335
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=224526
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=240672
• http://www.jsiinc.com/subi/tip4100/rh4173.htm
• http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsnt20002003faq/Article/ArticleID/13720/windowsnt20002003faq_13720.html
• http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsnt20002003faq/Article/ArticleID/27253/windowsnt20002003faq_27253.html
• http://www.dalantech.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=construction&Number=31642&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
• http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/ntfs/concepts/clusters.html
• http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/ntfs/
• http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/windows/win2k/win2kfiles.html
VARIOUS FILE SYSTEMS
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=307881
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=154997
• http://www.win2000mag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=3675&pg=1
• http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prba_dwp_eqmn.asp
• http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/ntfs/
• http://www.comptechdoc.org/os/windows/win2k/win2kfiles.html
FAT16 vs FAT32
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/partbook/win98dh/filesystemsfat16versusfat32.htm
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/partbook/win98dh/fatfat32ntfsfilesystems.htm
• http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/datacenter/help/choosing_between_NTFS_FAT_and_FAT32.htm
FAT vs NTFS:
• http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm
• http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm
• http://www.winplanet.com/winplanet/reports/572/1/
• http://faq.arstechnica.com/link.php?i=1227
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/en/datacenter/help/choosing_between_NTFS_FAT_and_FAT32.htm
• http://www.win2000mag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=3455
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/partbook/win98dh/fatfat32ntfsfilesystems.htm
• http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/winnt/filesyst.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/TechNet/prodtechnol/winntas/tips/winntmag/optntfs.asp
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=100108
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=140365
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period97/w9p9794.htm
• http://arstechnica.com/paedia/n/ntfs/ntfs4-1.html
• http://www.execsoft.com/tech-support/NT-articles/article.asp?F=1997051210.htm
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=183090
• http://www.win2000mag.com/Articles/Index.cfm?ArticleID=8294
• http://www.microsoft.com/Office/ORK/2000/Five/75t3_2.htm
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/officedev/off2krk/75t3_2.htm
• http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/columns/russel/october01.asp
NTFS FEATURES
• http://www.ntfs.com/
• http://www.winplanet.com/winplanet/reports/572/1/
• http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file/ntfs/
• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.asp
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=183090
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=253845
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=198904
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=174619
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/psdk/winbase/fsys_538t.htm
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/periodic/period00/management.htm
• http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/en-us/dnw2k/html/ntfs5.asp
CONVERTING TO NTFS
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=307881
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=214579
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=237399
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=266118
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=197627
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=198904
• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.asp
NTFS CLUSTER SIZES
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=140365
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=231756
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_tdrn.asp
• http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/tech/storage/ntfs-preinstall.asp
• http://www.jsiinc.com/sube/tip2100/rh2120.htm
IMPROVING NTFS PERFORMANCE
• http://www.jsiinc.com/suba/tip0200/rh0213.htm
• http://www.winnetmag.com/windowsnt20002003faq/Article/ArticleID/13749/windowsnt20002003faq_13749.html
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=130694
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=265069
• http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/winxppro/reskit/prkc_fil_punq.asp
SYSTEM RECOVERY
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=119467
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=223188
COPYING PERMISSIONS
• http://www.sans.org/rr/win/NTFS.php
LARGE ATAPI DISK SUPPORT (>137GB)
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=305098
• http://support.microsoft.com/?KBID=303013
COOL UTILITIES
• FSUTIL ................. Native XP Utility
• CHKDSK ................. Native XP Utility
• CONVERT ................ Native XP Utility
• NTFSINFO ............... http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/source/ntfsinfo.shtml
• NTFSDOS ................ http://www.sysinternals.com/ntw2k/freeware/NTFSDOS.shtml
EXPERIMENTAL FILE SYSTEM PROJECTS
• http://research.microsoft.com/sn/Farsite/faq.htm
PERSONAL NOTES
• The local filesystem is not a factor when sharing
files across the network (except for permissions).
This means that systems that could not locally deal
with NTFS can still access an NTFS filesystem across
the network. The same thing applies to FAT32 or any
other file system, such as those used by *nix boxes.
• Win95 didn't get FAT32 support until OSR2
• HPFS was supported in NT for a time (prior to NT4)
• NTFSv5 comes with 2000/XP and supports encryption.
NT4 must be at SP4 or higher to read NTFSv5
XP Home does not support NTFS security.
• There are utilities which will allow NT4 to read
FAT32 partitions, and Win9x/ME to read NTFS
partitions, but because they rely on the OS to be
running before they are enabled, you cannot install
any version of Windows on a non-native filesystem.
• Windows 2000 cannot format a FAT32 partition that
is larger than 32GB, but it can read/write any size
FAT32 partition that has been created in Win9x or
with a utility like Partition Magic.
• The XP version of CONVERT.EXE will create 4K clusters
rather than the 512 byte clusters created in previous
Windows versions.
• The FSUTIL utility found in XP and above will allow
you to configure your NTFS partitions for maximum
performance.
RELATED TOPICS (ALSO IN THIS ARCHIVE)
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=BootMgr.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=Convert.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=DriveLetters.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=NTsetup.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=RepairNT.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=SysBoot.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=ERD.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=DiskSizes.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=Perms.TXT
• http://KB.UltraTech-llc.com/?File=OSBasics.TXT