Re: Windows XP Home Edition SP2 NTFS

Jot wrote:
I have just converted from FAT32 to NTFS.

Does Windows XP Home Edition SP2 support and recommend the use of NTFS?

Thanks to all those who reply.


Personally, I wouldn't even consider using FAT32 when NTFS is an option. FAT32 has no security capabilities, no compression capabilities, no fault tolerance, so support for files larger than 4 Gb (videos, anyone?), and a lot of wasted hard drive space on volumes larger than 8 Gb in size. (Just try finding a hard drive that small, nowadays.) But your computing needs may vary, and there is no hard and fast answer.

To answer your questions without getting too technical is difficult, but has been handled quite well by the late Alex Nichol in the article here:

FAT & NTFS File Systems in Windows XP
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfs.htm

Somewhat more technical information is here:

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=kb;en-us;Q314463

Choosing Between File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/treeview/default.asp?url=/TechNet/prodtechnol/winntas/tips/techrep/filesyst.asp

NTFS file system
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/ntfs/

You can safely convert your current hard drive to NTFS whenever desired, without having to format the partition and reinstall everything. As always when performing any serious changes, back up any important data before proceeding, just in case. A little advance preparation is also strongly recommended, so you can avoid any performance hits caused by the default cluster size:

Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm



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Relevant Pages

  • Re: Converting system partition to NTFS
    ... For some reason the Acer laptop I bought around 18 months ago came with FAT32 and not NTFS as expected, and I have been thinking of converting it to NTFS for some time. ... "...so that you can repair or troubleshoot via command line because your GUI won't boot up" is not a very compelling reason to install Windows XP on FAT32, this is a notion perpetuated by well meaning Windows 9x users who think that FAT32 is better because it allows you to boot to DOS and access your disk if you run into problems. ... But my system partition is running out of space. ...
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    ... aware that NTFS partitions will not display as such when using FDisk. ... All partitions you create will be FAT or FAT32 ... and XP will install on such a partition. ... running Windows XP: NTFS, FAT, and FAT32. ...
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    ... Windows off a FAT32 drive; it may sound weird, but it does make a difference ... switching to NTFS resolved the issue. ... > but for the typical end user, backing up data files is used more. ...
    (microsoft.public.windows.mediacenter)
  • Re: New HDD - should I convert file system?
    ... Good wishes, Adrian (Francododds) ... In other words, if you had an 80GB FAT32 drive in a Windows 98 box and if you were to install that drive in the Windows XP box, Windows XP would see and read/write to it without any problems. ... System Restore cannot change the file system, for all intents and purposes unless you use third party tools the NTFS conversion is irreversible. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.setup_deployment)
  • Re: OT: The whole Apple can Run Windows thing...
    ... you can use either ntfs or fat32 for windows on the mac. ...
    (rec.photo.digital.slr-systems)