Windows XP file system question?

[alanr]

Does Windows XP use FAT32 or NTFS?

[Mark Miller]

On new bought machines Win Xp uses NTFS. On upgrades other than Win 2000 it is some version of Fat. Win NT 4 or earlier uses an older version of NTFS.
Besides the security issues NTFS is prone to less errors and therefore less likely to loose your files.
Unless your going with a duel boot that needs fat to read all the drives I would recommend NTFS.
Mark:)
On an upgrade you can always convert to NTFS during the upgrade.

[mjc]

WinXP can use, live on, read, write etc to a FAT32 formatted drive just the same as it can on an NTFS drive.

Like Mark said, most machines with it pre-installed are set up as NTFS, but you get to choose which one when installing XP, so if you are setting up from scratch or reinstalling (not repairing) you could easily choose FAT32. Also, Mark, hinted at NTFS being the better choice if you are not sharing disk space with an alder version of Windows or DOS.

[alanr]

Thanks! That is what I wanted to know. I am upgrading from Win98 but was kind of nervous about changing my file format to NTFS as I have a second hard drive and an external hard drive that I would still want to be able to access.

[deddard]

NTFS is certainly good where security is concerned (as long as you have the relevant software) and XP allows you to reassign HD space much more readily than FAT.

THe one problem you may have is that some programs don't like running under NTFS, and some may cause problems.

It's a good idea to set aside some disk space for FAT32, or better still, install XP as a second OS in it's own NTFS partition. THis will allow you to dual boot. If you want Dual boot, you MUST have the FAT 32 OS (win 98) on first - otherwise the MBR is created in NTFS, and Win 98 won't even see it.

[Mark Miller]

Hi Deddard,
Just out of curiosity what kind of programs don't run under ntfs? This is not a knock I am just interested to know.
Thanks Mark:)

[Paul Komski]

MBR is created in NTFS, and Win 98 won't even see it

To be pedantic, the MBR runs before the OS is even loaded, so Win98 "seeing it" doesn't come into the equation. Installing Win95/98/ME after Win2K/XP have been installed, reconstructs the whole boot processes such that 2K/XP won't boot without a repair installation.

The MBR maps out the four main HDD partitions, their formats and active status but is neither part nor parcel of a FAT nor an MFT file.

;)

[alanr]

Do you also get a choice of file systems (FAT32 or NTFS) when installing Windows 2000 Pro?

[Paul Komski]

Yes.

Win2K and WinXP can be installed on FAT or NTFS.

Once installed, the File System can later also be converted. FAT to NTFS is quite straightforward. For NTFS to FAT you would need third-party software.

[alanr]

Thanks everyone for your help. I think all my questions have been answered. Just to put closure on the NTFS to FAT conversion does anyone have any links to the third party software that can do this?

[Paul Komski]

Partition Magic (http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/) is not free but can do it well.

Don't think the free Ranish (http://www.ranish.com/part/) can.

Some other info I came across on the Ranish Forum FAQ:-

Some known partition related information on Microsoft OSes?
================================================== =========

a. FDISK of Windows 95/98 does not show the correct size if the disk size is
above 64 GB. There is a patch available for this.
(http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;Q263044&)

b. Windows XP (possibly Windows 2000 too) gives you an option to select
filesystem type (FAT32/NTFS) only if the partition/disk (not sure which one)
size is less than 32 GB. If the size is > 32GB, it defaults to NTFS.

c. Windows 2K/XP cannot format a FAT32 partition if the size is above 32GB.
But they can access (read/write) > 32GB FAT32 partition (when they were
formatted through other utilities - format32 from the Diskman site is one such utility).