NTFS or FAT32

[star_odie]

Is it advisable for me to install NTFS or FAT 32 for Windows 2000 Advance Server?Is it true that if I use NTFS,I will not be able to edit system files from the MSDOS?

[DaveAtIFG]

DOS does not support and cannot access NTFS. I made the switch to NTFS when using NT a few years back and really missed being able to access files from DOS. I'm running W2K now, NTFS is faster and much more robust than FAT. Although it took some time to learn to work without DOS, the "DOS tools" are still there, and it was time well spent. If you move to NTFS, install the Recovery Console to gain access to the "DOS tools."

[flex55]

star_odie, you're looking at it wrong-
linux is what you should use...
:-)

[bateman_ap]

NTFS for the simple reason it allows you to have much better control over permissions of files. Also I think there is a rather small drive limit you can have with FAT, might be 4Gb.

Also general performance is slighty better with NTFS.

[star_odie]

Do you have any ideas what programme do i need to install in order to recover any damage system files from DOS?

[DaveAtIFG]

Read about the Recovery Console in the W2K help file.

[caine]

Personally i find NTFS, a lot more secure and configurable, hence faster than FAT32.

[star_odie]

I will be installing 2 OS in a 20GB hard disk.The 2 OS I will be installing are Windows XP Pro and Windows 2k AS.So,should i be installing NTFS or FAT32?Please help.Thanx a lot.

[mil2k]

This is what i would do if in your place :-

Partition the 20 GB drive into 5 GB , 5 GB and 9.7 GB. Use the first 5 GB as primary partition(c: ) and install 2000 AS on it. Then install XP on the other partition. Use the third partition(9.7 GB) for storage of all work related files.

Keep the 5GB partitions as Fat 32. The 9.7 GB partition as NTFS. That way you can assign user rights to all work related folders kept on 9.7 GB. Use third party software to password protect important folders on 5 GB partitions.

Some of the reasons for doing so :-
1) Keep Primary partition of 5 GB bcoz it's faster to load OS.

2) The last partition file size is closer to 9.7 GB and not exactly 10 GB bcoz that's the way it is ;)

3) The 5 GB partitions are kept Fat32 so that you can sometimes quickly recover the partitions (if lost from many dos utilities around.

4) The work related folder are kept on 9.7 GB drive bcoz if anything goes wrong it is always better to format the whole drive(c: or d: ) and if your folders are kept on those drives it creates a dilemma of "To format or not to Format".

Any more Questions?

[star_odie]

Thanx.Does that mean it is better for me to keep the 5GB partition for my Windows XP Pro under FAT32 instead of NTFS?Thank you in advance.

[mil2k]

Better is a relative term. It depends on your usage. I am paranoid about my Data when an OS crashes. If that does happen instead of repairing the same machine i prefer to install the HDD to another machine to extract the data. I don't rely very much on repair utilities of 2000 or XP. So if the machine closest to you is on 95,98,Me and your drive is NTFS then you have a problem. If you can handle this then go for NTFS. Also NTFS is necessary for very large partitions but it is not applicable in your case.

If you have a NTFS machine closeby than go for NTFS on all the drives. It is supposed to be a better file system than Fat32. HTH :)