I've had my XP partition on Fat32 for compatibility and had no problems with it (barring the required scandisk when theres a crash). Are there any benefits on switching to NTFS?
I'm not very well up on partitions but I'm using NTFS and find that not being able to access files from each partition can be very frustrating.
I *think* it's stable enough, not had any problems as such. BUT! When playing games, pressing the Alt key can result in an instant BSOD, not sure if thats related the partition or because I'm on a Mac.
I'm not very well up on partitions but I'm using NTFS and find that not being able to access files from each partition can be very frustrating.
I *think* it's stable enough, not had any problems as such. BUT! When playing games, pressing the Alt key can result in an instant BSOD, not sure if thats related the partition or because I'm on a Mac.
I used to get the BSOD whenever I changed volume or pressed the windows key on big 3D games running off a HFS+ drive. An external NTFS drive for games fixed that.
And XFS is the best file system out there. OSX can read it but not write yet I believe some of the big pro systems have it too.
I'm pretty sure you can't have single files over 2 gb when you use Fat32. So if you want to unpack say a dvd iso file you'll have a problem. Other than that I can't say I've noticed much difference. I have NTFS btw.
You can actually swith to NTFS without having to reformat the drive btw if that's what you are worried about.
DaVince This fool just HAD to have a custom rating
Registered 04/09/2004
Points 7998
21st February, 2008 at 05:01:49 -
Go NTFS. It's safer when it comes to preserving data because it stores file information several times, and it's journaled which means it can keep track of what was going on on the hard disk (also to make things safer when it comes to storage).
Still, ext3 is one of the best FSes at the moment, but it only works in Linux (as a native disk anyway).
Old member (~2004-2007).
DaVince This fool just HAD to have a custom rating
Registered 04/09/2004
Points 7998
21st February, 2008 at 05:01:53 -
Go NTFS. It's safer when it comes to preserving data because it stores file information several times, and it's journaled which means it can keep track of what was going on on the hard disk (also to make things safer when it comes to storage).
Still, ext3 is one of the best FSes at the moment, but it only works in Linux.
What about defragging? My Fat32 disk needs a good defrag every week but my external NTFS scratch/game disk needs it every month. NTFS organises itself better?
well if its the standard windows file system over fat32 then it has to be better in some way. not sure how. fat32 does get cluttered. ive never had to defrag my ntfs partitions. i check about every month but it tells me its fine and closes.
Hmm I thought it would have been the holy grail of Win filesystems. For compatibility I think I'll stick to Fat32... maybe. Fat32 was responsible for a huge catastrophic hard drive data loss a few years back.
To what sort of "compatibility" do you gain from Fat32? The brain not adjusting correctly to better? I think that's a lot of peoples problems with updates, it's okay.
theres no reason to stay with fat32 unless you have xp and an old windows like 98 and before dual booting. and even then it would be better to have a fat32 partition AND an ntfs partition. if youre going to have to convert a bunch of files from fat 32 to ntfs then thats a different story. just start clean and with ntfs.
Originally Posted by Ben~ I might switch to NTFS next time I do a Windows re-install... But I do like being able to send files to my Windows partition easily.
Can you get it to use more than 32gb with fat? If not then that's the main reason I'd switch.
IIRC the limit is somewhere between 32 and 48gb. I'm sitting pretty since my XP partition is only 28gb, using only 12gb of it.
Originally Posted by -Adam- No need to get offensive, Brandon
How does asking what the point of staying with Fat32 was, any sort of sign that I was being offensive. I see no reason not to believe that this is your way of just trying to start another argument, seeing as the last few haven't exactly worked out in your favor, even though you still seem to feel that leaving with a smile on your face, changes that. So with that said, I've said what I wanted to say, and if anyone finds it offensive in any way, I don't apologize.
I can see my welcome here slowly fading away for whatever reason, so don't mind me if my attitude towards people who continue feeding me that feeling, isn't exactly positive. By no means do I intend to start arguments, just share my two cents, even if it's not generally accepted.
Originally Posted by BrandonC To what sort of "compatibility" do you gain from Fat32?
I'll have a pop now my shows finished;
What "compatibility" do I gain? How about write "compatibility" with other OS's?
The brain not adjusting correctly to better? I think that's a lot of peoples problems with updates, it's okay.
This is the OTT bit, just so you don't go away thinking you're right in this. Just like I won't update to Vista because there are performance cuts in my games, what you think is "better" isn't.
Originally Posted by BrandonC To what sort of "compatibility" do you gain from Fat32?
I'll have a pop now my shows finished;
What "compatibility" do I gain? How about write "compatibility" with other OS's?
The brain not adjusting correctly to better? I think that's a lot of peoples problems with updates, it's okay.
This is the OTT bit, just so you don't go away thinking you're right in this. Just like I won't update to Vista because there are performance cuts in my games, what you think is "better" isn't.
Write incompatibility for other OS's? You would write an entire hard drive to fat32 just so you can potentially install other OS's in the future? Sounds silly, especially since a hard drive can have multiple partitions with both Fat32 and NTFS.
The FAT file system is relatively uncomplicated, and is supported by virtually all existing operating systems for personal computers. This ubiquity makes it an ideal format for floppy disks and solid-state memory cards, and a convenient way of sharing data between disparate operating systems installed on the same computer (a dual boot environment).
The most common implementations have a serious drawback in that when files are deleted and new files written to the media, directory fragments tend to become scattered over the entire disk, making reading and writing a slow process. Defragmentation is one solution to this, but is often a lengthy process in itself and has to be performed regularly to keep the FAT file system clean. Defragmentation should not be performed on solid-state memory cards since they wear down eventually
aka fat32 sucks. i cant even believe somebody out there still uses it. welcome to the dos days.
Brandon: We are using Fat32 because OS X can read and write to it whereas it can only read NTFS. Not because we want to install other OS' in the future.
Well not to start an os war here, but need we much proof after saying that about os x?
I have mine defrag every wednesday at 7am while I'm at school. Recommended or not, I'm pleased with how quickly things pop up when I'm breezing through folders. I have little to no hitches at all, and picture previews all load instantly.
Even if you have Linux, FAT32 are useless now.
Linux has very good NTFS support now days.
NTFS has a key feature for me which is the compression.
I compress all of my disk and save space big time.
Not needing to defrag that often is not something that really bugs me though, especially since when I do defrag, it's when I'm at school and by time I get home it's long since been finished. If it's not going to hurt the hard drive and only improve speed by less then a percent each time, then the question why could be asked, but in the same light, why not?
Defragging that often clearly doesn't mean that my PC is going to be so much faster then anyone elses, but it does mean that minor fragmentations every so often, are constantly cleaned up every week and they never have a chance to build up. A good way to compare it, is to ask why does a restaurant have to sweep the floors every morning and night, when theres nothing visible to be swept up. The answer, each time they sweep they keep it from building up.
Don't go NTFS, go extended Journal and buy mac-drive. You should know better...
and definetly stray from fat32, huge library and no files over 4gb. That's insane
NTFS for PC, extended journal for macs running PC.
thinking is like pong, it's easy, but you miss sometimes.
Most people know this, but just in case. It's good to have an application that can browse the alternate data stream, just so you know what's in there.
If you share files over multiple operating systems, why not just run Windows on an NTFS drive, OSX on a FAT32 drive, and maybe have a third FAT32 for files which you want to run on both.
I thought about doing that Dines, but all my external drives are fully in use with HFS+ or NTFS.
And I dunno what happened but everytime I run a game off my NTFS external it needs defragging, not too much but the previously solid blue blocks have become striped red/blue. Tis a bit annoying since I like to keep things all ship shaped.
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