To NTFS or not to NTFS (from FAT32)

Hardware & Gaming PC Builds, Modding & Overclocking
1

well…

i hav 2 HDDs, 80GB and 160GB. Since i got my comp, i always used FAT32 on these, fearing NTFS and Win98se = screwup…

now its confirm…i’ll never use Win98 again. So is it the time to go NTFS??? what are the benefits of NTFS BTW? 16K clusters on my 48GB partis suck :frowning:

if yes, then is partition magic 8 fine to convert to NTFS?? no data loss, prime importance :slight_smile:

2

Why use Partion magic, Windows XP can do that too and I would stick with it.

3

okay…

my benefits from NTFS from FAT32???

4

If you have a hard drive over 32 gig in size,NTFS is the best option
NTFS is more reliable and secure and microsoft highly recommends you choose NTFS lol :face_with_tongue:

Here some info on the features
http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

5

thanks…so i’ll go for NTFS now :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

6

uhh…i need detail instructions pls.. :confused:

shud i format??? quick format???

7

IF you want to convert with the DATA
From the command prompt type in convert c: /fs:ntfs.

If you are formatting the drive then do a regular format NTFS.

You will know this but if you dont.
formatting your drive will erase all data :face_with_tongue:

8

Well if you convert to NTFS then you will never have to see the disk check screen. Almost never. In NTFS if you delete a system file it reappears within a minute so you cant screw it just like that. In NTFS you have the option of compresion and encryption.
I personlly think all this was devised just to keep the PC secure from kids.

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9

thanks stalker…will post results soon :slight_smile:

10

I dont know if this is of any interest to you - I have a USB external HDD on which I have installed Win98SE and on the drive I have the free software READNTFS and with this I can access my NTFS main drives. READNTFS works from within Win98SE or from the DOS prompt.

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11

The biggest difference I saw when I changed from FAT32 to NTFS was the time taken for defragging the drives - what used to take 3+ hours is now being done in 10 - 15 minutes :open_mouth:

12

NTFS is soo much better. I was very apprehensive b4 i made the switch but with SATA drives it was always gonna be NTFS.

Also, sunny u need to remember that if u have a NTFS partition n if u carry ur HDD along, it wont be as easy to connect ur HDD to ur friend’s comp running Win 98. Ofcourse u can use some soft, but like i said, it wont be *that *easy.

13

Well just make ur c: NTFS…let othrs(i mean u do have sme rite??) b fat32 nd tht way u can access those on ur frnd’s comp too…

14

Problem is his other partitions are very large and he wud lose too much space b’coz of higher cluster size.. instead he cud resize the cluster to 4KB in FAT32 using PQ Magic.. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes: evil:

15

Does the drives data transfer rates not get too slow when you resize the cluster size below normal ?

16

well.. yes.. thats where NTFS scores over FAT32 i guess. Infact in my quest to save space i even formatted my HDDs with a cluster size of 512bytes!! cudnt stand the “speed” for a few minutes. reformatted back to standard 4KB on NTFS :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

17

well im pretty apprehensive about changing my c drive which only has XP, other system files on it... what are the chances ill lose all the data if i convert from fat32 to ntfs..
and btw can i also convert to ntfs5? is it good?? better?? bad?? please tell me..
also what`s the procedure. cause i know how to do it using partition magic.. i have alwasy used it.. never used the windows utility though..

18

if game and software and win xp drive are converted to ntfs then will there be speed gain?

19

Well, the Windows convert x: /fs:ntfs will NOT lose any data. It uses a lossless algorithm (not abt to get into the meaning of that).
Just make sure that verbose mode is not selected (ie don’t add any other switches). I did once and it tripled the time required.
Mind u - if u convert rather than format u won’t be able to use the fancier features of NTFS - compression, encryption (no on ever uses them much, there is better stuff available, tho maybe not as convenient), but u will miss out on file permissions too, which will make sharing folders over a network a big security issue (much like in NTFS).

EDIT: As for NTFS 5.0, no problems there because the current version (Win 2K onwards) IS NTFS5.0, and the convert utility and others support just that.

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20

thanks a lot guys…

hehehe…i was abt to type “Is it better to format then??” then i saw the edit :wink: