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Should I convert to the NTFS File System in Windows XP

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Guest ScottPilot

Hello Simmers!I have a question since many of you are "techies" in addition to being sim pilots.I have been running Windows XP Pro for several months now and have been very happy with this O.S.My hard disks are currently set up under the FAT 32 file system. I am thinking about converting them to the NTFS file system, but before I do this, I would like to get your opinions on making the change.I have heard that the hard disk access time is much better with the NTFS setup, but will I have problems running software that was written for windows 95/98 or DOS under this file system?Also, will I notice a performance increase with FS2K2 under the NTFS.Finally, Should I just convert the partition that the Windows XP Pro O.S. resides on, or should I convert my other partitions and drives that have programs and data on themI'm not sure if I should do the conversion or not, so any input is greatly appreciated!Thanks!Scott :-)

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Guest flightpro08

I've been running my new machine's hard drive (specs are in my sig) as an NTFS and everything's been running fine. My other compuer runs as a FAT32 and it also runs FS2k2 just fine. Overall, I'm not sure how much of a performance increase you'll get, but maybe some other tech guy will know. :-)Ryan-Flightpro08 :-coolVATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Controller 1 (C-1)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com]Taxiwaysigns.com Scenery Designer-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 30.30 Drivers)512MB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*3dMark2001SE Score: 10346

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Guest

NTFS is designed for server running system, application compatibility is not good under NTFS.I suggest you stick with FAT32 and there are some good application to clean your drive.I was under NTFS when I was using Win2k, but it's not good, my FS can't run properly and other application incompatible.

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Not really performance-related (though I don't think I've ever seen anyone actually say NTFS helped with sims) but I run XP with FAT32 primarily because if anything goes wrong I can boot a DOS floppy and access the drive. Unless the drive itself has gone south, I can manually fix whats wrong or at least recover important files if a reformat is going to be needed.- BobThe StickWorkshttp://www.stickworks.com

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NTFS Pro'sFaster file access, more secure file system.NTFS Con'sCan't access drive from DOS, or non Win NT/2k/XP OS.It's a user choice my experience with it is I have seen FAT 16 / 32 drives fail under Win NT, but connecting the drive to another NT PC allowed me the read the entire NTFS drive with no problems.

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Guest ScottPilot

Thanks everyone for the input!I'll think about what I want to do.Scott :-)

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Guest lmoelleb

Correction: NTFS is designed for volumes over 300KB, unlike FAT wich was designed for the old floppy format, and then hacked to be able to support big hard disks. You should remember than while NTFS was designed for servers, todays workstations are far more powerfull than the servers were at the time NTFS was developed, so it is absolutely not an overkill to run NTFS on a workstation. When you first find out how long file names are tracked on a FAT system, you look at it for a few seconds... then you start converting to NTFS.I do not know about the speed of NTFS - it might be a tad faster or slower than FAT, it does not matter. If someone managed to put an engine on your three wheeled bike making it go 300km/h, wouldn't you still prefer going 280km/h in a Porche - even though it's technically slower? :)NTFS is much much much more stable than FAT. Loosing files due to the computer freezing or the power failing is much less likely. On top of this, NTFS offer file security and a number of other nice features, but for the home user it's the stability that should matter the most.For FS being unstable or anything.... NO. Something else is wrong on that system - I have been running FS2000 and FS2002 since they were released on NTFS. As a prof. developer knowing my Windows API, I would say that any application not running under NTFS is probably trying to do some low level stuff to the hard disk, and you should be glad it does not work - if it did, it might make a mistake and you are axed.

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Guest emergency_pants

I'm considering changing my second HD to NTFS (the one that holds FS2002). I would have done it some time ago, except I read that a straight convert operation can screw up the cluster sizing and render the drive very inefficient.Therefore, I'm not going to consider changing the file system until I can be bothered to totaly wipe and reformat the drive. It seems I could buy some software that would ensure a proper conversion, but what's the point in shelling out cash on something I'll only ever use once or twice!? I wonder why MS didn't get this right!? How annoying!Simon.

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Just one other point Scott,NTFS is so good, alegedly, it does not need defragging like FAT16/32 does....WRONG.NTFS may be better at handling files than FAT16/32 is but that disk will fragment and need defragging, in fact Win2k has a defragging option (Disk Keeper Lite I think), whereas NT4 did not because MS said you didn't need it!

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Guest

On the computers these days the only reason to use FAT is if you are dual booting. The speed difference between the two is negligable. NTFS allows File Encryption, Compression, Fragments less (but still fragments)is more stable, less likely to lose files, much more secure, and allows you to set up file permissions. If you have a problem with your install just use your windows install CD and it can correct almost any problem with windows from there if you have trouble booting. FAT is on its way out. I'd go with NTFS. Although its best to have NTFS on a clean install instead of converting it because the cluster sizes when you convert arent as efficient, but not a huge deal to most people. Thats my take on it.D. Griner

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Guest

I converted NTFS and I find it takes longer for the fragmentation to actually slow the system down whereas FAT doesn't take too long to slow the system down thus I need to defrag. Be sure use to Diskeeper for disk management! :)

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