NTFS vs. FAT 32?

Question

What are the advantages if any of using the NTFS rather than the FAT 32 file system?

Answer 1

Imagine this: If NTFS and FAT32 are construction companies. What kind of house they would build?

FAT32 company built houses that are simple, easy with quick access doors. Any body can come in FAT32's houses and kick the current resident out and take over.
So, given that, FAT32 format is a quick and easy way. It provides absolute no security whatsoever. Anybody can take over any file in FAT32.

NTFS company, in the other hand, built houses that have lock, key, have room for improvement and renovation. You can not get in the house unless the owner give you permission.

But to say that FAT32 is bad and should not be use at all? Well, not quite. FAT32 format can be read by any operating system, include MAC, Apple, Unix .... you name it. It is the format of sharring drives, space, like your USB removable harddrive.

Hope this help.

Answer 2

1 - Better security/recoverability

2 - Windows XP cannot format more than 32 GB with FAT 32 so multiple partitions are needed for larger disks.

3 - Cluster size or minimum space used by any file is 8 KBytes in a partition of 8 GB to 16 GB or 16 KB at 16 GB to 32 GB using FAT 32. With NTFS it is 4 KB

There is a particular problem on the speed of writing small files on Compact Flash Memory, Pen Drives and the like where, with WinXP, Microsoft have not implemented the "Optimize For Performance" option. Using FAT 32, this means that the File Allocation Table is rewritten for every file saved or deleted. Besides being slow, this will shorten the life of this type of memory. For those who need it, the solution is to format as NTFS. Similarly, instead of deleting thousands of files on a FAT 32 card, use format instead.

Answer 3

Ntfs Vs Fat

Answer 4

NTFS5
Operting SystemWindows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server
LimitationsMax Volume Size2TB
Max Files on VolumeNearly Unlimited
Max File SizeLimit Only by Volume Size
Max Clusters NumberNearly Unlimited
Max File Name LengthUp to 255
Unicode File NamesUnicode Character Set
System Records MirrorMFT Mirror File
Boot Sector LocationFirst and Last Sectors
Alternate StreamsYes
CompressionYes
EncryptionYes
Object PermissionsYes
Disk QuotasYes
Sparse FilesYes
Reparse PointsYes
Volume Mount PointsYes
Built-In SecurityYes
RecoverabilityYes


FAT32
Operting SystemDOS v7 and higher, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, Windows XP
Limitations Max Volume Size32GB for all OS. 2TB for some OS
Max Files on Volume4194304
Max File Size4GB minus 2 Bytes
Max Clusters Number4177918
Max File Name LengthUp to 255
Unicode File NamesSystem Character Set
System Records MirrorSecond Copy of  FAT
Boot Sector LocationFirst Sector and Copy in Sector #6
Alternate StreamsNo
CompressionNo
EncryptionNo
Object PermissionsNo
Disk QuotasNo
Sparse FilesNo
Reparse PointsNo
Volume Mount PointsNo
Built-In SecurityNo
RecoverabilityNo

Answer 5

NTFS supports larger file. Theoretically, it can handle up to 16 Terrabytes in one file instead of 4GB in FAT32. Also it is less prone to fragmentation than FAT32 thanks to Master File Table (MFT) stored in the drive. Basically MFT stores every files information (including location, size, permissions) in the form of metadata.
B+ tree technology implemented in NTFS used to index files which may result better access time.
NTFS also supports lower case in naming files and file compression to reserve more space.
Also, NTFS supports larger partition size (Up to 256 Terrabytes) compared to 2 Terrabytes on FAT32.
But NTFS has some weakness like it cannot be read from older operatin system like DOS. But, a special program can make these old operating system read NTFS partition.
So, in this case, FAT32 is a loser compared to NTFS. Only if you use old operating system FAT32 is more suitable.

Answer 6

NTFS is better option because it is a new technology formatting which will support more than FAT, FAT 32. i think it was not bydefault formatted FAT 32, if it so is there any way to format NTFS, for that see company's website or take other tech support

Answer 7

Dont think you can partition a fat 32 drive.

Answer 8

To NTFS or not to NTFS—that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer. For most users running Windows XP, NTFS is the obvious choice. It's more powerful and offers security advantages not found in the other file systems. But let's go over the differences among the files systems so we're all clear about the choice. There are essentially three different file systems available in Windows XP: FAT16, short for File Allocation Table, FAT32, and NTFS, short for NT File System.

FAT16
The FAT16 file system was introduced way back with MS–DOS in 1981, and it's showing its age. It was designed originally to handle files on a floppy drive, and has had minor modifications over the years so it can handle hard disks, and even file names longer than the original limitation of 8.3 characters, but it's still the lowest common denominator. The biggest advantage of FAT16 is that it is compatible across a wide variety of operating systems, including Windows 95/98/Me, OS/2, Linux, and some versions of UNIX. The biggest problem of FAT16 is that it has a fixed maximum number of clusters per partition, so as hard disks get bigger and bigger, the size of each cluster has to get larger. In a 2–GB partition, each cluster is 32 kilobytes, meaning that even the smallest file on the partition will take up 32 KB of space. FAT16 also doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists.

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FAT32
The FAT32 file system, originally introduced in Windows 95 Service Pack 2, is really just an extension of the original FAT16 file system that provides for a much larger number of clusters per partition. As such, it greatly improves the overall disk utilization when compared to a FAT16 file system. However, FAT32 shares all of the other limitations of FAT16, and adds an important additional limitation—many operating systems that can recognize FAT16 will not work with FAT32—most notably Windows NT, but also Linux and UNIX as well. Now this isn't a problem if you're running FAT32 on a Windows XP computer and sharing your drive out to other computers on your network—they don't need to know (and generally don't really care) what your underlying file system is.

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The Advantages of NTFS
The NTFS file system, introduced with first version of Windows NT, is a completely different file system from FAT. It provides for greatly increased security, file–by–file compression, quotas, and even encryption. It is the default file system for new installations of Windows XP, and if you're doing an upgrade from a previous version of Windows, you'll be asked if you want to convert your existing file systems to NTFS. Don't worry. If you've already upgraded to Windows XP and didn't do the conversion then, it's not a problem. You can convert FAT16 or FAT32 volumes to NTFS at any point. Just remember that you can't easily go back to FAT or FAT32 (without reformatting the drive or partition), not that I think you'll want to.

The NTFS file system is generally not compatible with other operating systems installed on the same computer, nor is it available when you've booted a computer from a floppy disk. For this reason, many system administrators, myself included, used to recommend that users format at least a small partition at the beginning of their main hard disk as FAT. This partition provided a place to store emergency recovery tools or special drivers needed for reinstallation, and was a mechanism for digging yourself out of the hole you'd just dug into. But with the enhanced recovery abilities built into Windows XP (more on that in a future column), I don't think it's necessary or desirable to create that initial FAT partition.

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When to Use FAT or FAT32
If you're running more than one operating system on a single computer (see my earlier column Multibooting Made Easy), you will definitely need to format some of your volumes as FAT. Any programs or data that need to be accessed by more than one operating system on that computer should be stored on a FAT16 or possibly FAT32 volume. But keep in mind that you have no security for data on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume—any one with access to the computer can read, change, or even delete any file that is stored on a FAT16 or FAT32 partition. In many cases, this is even possible over a network. So do not store sensitive files on drives or partitions formatted with FAT file systems.

Answer 9

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/archive/ittasks/deploy/fat.mspx?mfr=true