Fat32 or NTFS

[Un4GiveN]

I was wondering if it is worth changing my file system from my current fat32 setup to ntfs. I've read that it is worth it, however I've been reading posts in which people say it is absolute garbage. What do you guys think.. based on my current setup.

Amd Athlon(thunderbird) 900Mhz
Via kt133 chipset
416mb SDRam
Geforce 4 ti4200
Sound blaster audigy 2
20 Gb quantum fireball hard disk
Windows XP

 

[ycs46241]

Iwould say that the staying with fat 32 is ok , some of the older programs that you my have will not work in ntfs, but on the other hand by not converting you are missing out on the power of ntfs

 

[khha4113]

I'd say convert it to NTFS. It has several advantages over FAT32 (security for example), and their performances' differences is insignificant.

Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[Clarentavious]

I don't use NTFS except for a dedicated virtual memory partition. The reason being it cannot be remotely manipulated. Windows 98 SE and ME cannot read the NTFS file system...... PERIOD. Only Windows 2000 and XP can.

And, once the Windows interface has loaded, you can't delete certain files, it is impossible, Windows/your PC will 100% prevent you, and I'm not sure anyone has been able to hack around this.

So if you want to delete "Index.dat", which secretly logs all online actitivty (it can be found in your Cookies folder in 98 SE), it is not possible to do it without reformatting. The same thing if you wanted to delete a file critical to running Windows (like your IO.SYS). If you try to delete it you'll get an error message saying "Cannot delete, move, or rename file, it is currently in use, active in memory, or required for running Windows" something of that nature

So, the only way to remove those files is to do a complete a complete reformat, which totally sucks and is way time consuming. That is, of course, for NTFS

The only other option is if you have another harddrive, and boot of that. Then you can delete the files on the other drive - but of course, you'd need Windows 2000 or XP installed on the drive you booted off, which means you need 2 harddrives, both with Windows 2000 or XP installed - which really doesn't make sense to me. If I have an additional harddrive, I'd use it for backup and have a different OS in it.

However, with FAT32 there is another option. That being you can delete them from pure MS DOS mode or a Windows 98 startup disk.

So anytime I want to wipe my SWAP file, I will just shutdown 98 SE with "restart in MS-DOS mode", delete win386.swp, then as soon as I type exit and go back to Windows, it will be replaced. Much easier than reformatting or messing around with other drives, boot settings, and master/slave config (and other time consuming crap).

The only real advantages I see in NTFS are, it doesn't require defragmenting as often, and it is more "stable". Other than that, I have no use for it.

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Benchmarks don't lie

 

[khha4113]

The reason being it cannot be remotely manipulated. Windows 98 SE and ME cannot read the NTFS file system...... PERIOD. Only Windows 2000 and XP can.

... And you think it is the disvantage???

If you try to delete it you'll get an error message saying "Cannot delete, move, or rename file, it is currently in use, active in memory, or required for running Windows" something of that nature

That's because you don't have proper permission to do so. It's more complicated than FAT since its purpose is for security mainly.

The only real advantages I see in NTFS are, it doesn't require defragmenting as often, and it is more "stable". Other than that, I have no use for it.

FAT32 is more vulnerable of corruption than NTFS when your system crash or power loss (sometimes Win98 cannot be booted) when NTFS is not.

So anytime I want to wipe my SWAP file, I will just shutdown 98 SE with "restart in MS-DOS mode", delete win386.swp, then as soon as I type exit and go back to Windows, it will be replaced. Much easier than reformatting or messing around with other drives, boot settings, and master/slave config (and other time consuming crap).

It can be done the same with NTFS. I have used WinXP for few months, and I have never had to reformat my OS since. What you need is understanding it more. To my understanding is everything can do in FAT, NTFS can and does it much better.


Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.

 

[Clarentavious]

No, I'm afraid you don't understand. Try deleting your Kernel from Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, or XP. You CANNOT do it from the Windows interface, and it has nothing to do with security. This is the base software that allows your hardware to function.

You can even go into Safe Mode and try deleting these files. You can't do it at all, if you don't believe me, try it yourself.

Your one comment would be correct, your boot sector/system area is more like to be corrupted with FAT32 if you don't shutdown your computer. That is what I meant by more stable NTFS is less prone to corruption. What do you think I meant by the word "stable"

Why don't you tell me how you go about deleting your SWAP file from Windows XP?

Maybe you like extra security. I've used Windows 2000 as administrator and know about it's security options. Maybe you are just bashing Windows 98 because you don't like it. I'm not much a fan of 2000.... It gives you less natural control. Inability to disable V-sync for DirectX, desktop refresh rates do not carry over to games, nor are they detected via your monitor's and vid card's settings (W2K has its "own idea" of what the maximum rate should be), disabling all of the excess logging and network components causes problems, and some older programs will not work with W2K...... It is much harder and time consuming to work with when I don't need it.

What I stated in my previous post about the inability to delete files is true - I mentioned the only 2 other possible options. If you'd like to disput it, go ahead, but anyone is free to test it for themselves.

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Benchmarks don't lie

 

[khha4113]

Why don't you tell me how you go about deleting your SWAP file from Windows XP?

There is a registry fix by changing <b>DWORD Value (ClearPageFileAtShutdown)</b> from <b><font color=blue>0</b></font color=blue> to <b><font color=blue>1</b></font color=blue> in <b><font color=red>HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management</b></font color=red> key. After you do that, Windows fills inactive pages in in the paging file with 0 whenever you shut down.

Maybe you are just bashing Windows 98 because you don't like it. I'm not much a fan of 2000.... It gives you less natural control.

I'm not bashing Win98, but I see extra security (you're right) with Win 2000 and XP. It actually give you more control your system than you think (by default, it restricts you from accidently harming OS by accessing critical files that Windows needs). You just have to know how.


Good or Bad have no meaning at all, depends on what your point of view is.