NTFS vs FAT32

[sag]

I have been thinking about converting my 80 gig harddrive to NTFS (I have Win2k pro). What are the advantages/disadvantages to switching to NTFS. My son says that he will not switch because you can't use DOS or DOS operations like Ghost, ScanDisk (I know there are better disk programs), boot to DOS...especially if trying to troubleshoot, starting a command prompt in a DOS box in Windows, what about FDISK and formatting a Hdrive, etc???
Is he right in not making the switch and advising me the same?
OBD

[sleddog]

NTFS provides the capability for assigning file ownership and permissions (who can read, modify and execute a particular file). This is important in a multi-user situation -- for example, you could easily make certain files that you own private, or 'un-readable', by other logged-on users. FAT32 does not have any concept of file ownership or permissions. If you're working on a multi-user machine, and privacy or security are in any way a consideration, then you should go with NTFS.

DOS cannot read files from an NTFS filesystem; it simple does not understand it. So, for example, if you format your C: drive as NTFS and then boot to a DOS floppy disk, the C: drive will be invisible (inaccessible).

You will have a command prompt ("DOS box") in the versions of Windows that supports NTFS regardless of the filesystem type (NTFS or FAT32). Versions of Windows that support NTFS are NT-based (NT/2000/XP). Windows 95/98/ME versions do not support NTFS.

Unless there are privacy/security issues in a multi-user emvironment, there is no real benefit for you to change to NTFS. Some people say it is more robust--less prone to failure--but I've not seen this in my experience. NTFS does carry a slight performance penalty, meaning that FAT32 is a little bit faster.

I would recommend that you partition your drive into at least two partitions: one for Windows and programs, the second for your own data. It makes recovery from a failure much easier, regardless of the filesystem you use.

[sag]

Thanks for the info...
The only advantage I saw was possibly slightly more stability but at the lost of all those DOS functions. Doesn't seem worth it.
SAG

[pave_spectre]

In an attempt to "encourage" users to switch to NTFS, in Win 2K and XP MS apparently removed the ability to create FAT32 partitions any larger than 32 Gig.

[shanmuga]

More on

NTFS and FAT (http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfs.htm)

Converting FAT to NTFS (http://aumha.org/win5/a/ntfscvt.htm)

[Paul Komski]

First - just to fully clarify that there is no DOS in Win2K or WinXP whether on a FAT or NTFS file system.

Second - just to clarify what can "see" files on NTFS partitons is not the Format of the viewing partition but the application or operating system that is doing the viewing. Thus partition magic running on Win98 on FAT can see everything on NTFS partitions as can NTFSDOS run from a DOS prompt as can Win2K running on another FAT partiton.

If you don't want to use the "more esoteric" programs and want to be able to see Win2K/XP simply from DOS or Win9X then stay with FAT. Apart from this, my personal take is that there is very little to be gained from using Win2K/XP on FAT on a modern PC.

IMHO - NTFS's better security, stability, recoverability, versatility (encryption, unicode and so on), ability to manage multiple small files or very large files or large numbers of files is all superior as is the lower impact of disk fragmentation on system performance.

PS
pave you are right that there is a 32GB limit imposed by the W2K/WXP format command - but partitions much larger than this can be made using a Win98/ME boot disk or other partition utilities.

More on the subject here (http://www.anandtech.com/guides/viewfaq.html?i=63).

[yawningdog]

Let's not forget, that in win2k, when you upgrade to NTFS, you can also configure a dynamic disk. This allows all the coolest tricks like mirroring, spanned volumes, dynamic resizing, striping, and RAID-5. All within the management console.

And what is meant exactly by "doesn't seem worth it"? It's not like we're mixing cement here. Couple'a clicks, a ten minute wait, and we're done.