NTFS or FAT32 for FS2002

[Guest]

I keep reading conflicting information on hardware sites regarding HD format performance. So far, I have been sticking with FAT32 under XP believing it is faster for games. I am upgrading from Via KT266A AMD XP1900+ ATA 133 setup to a SIS 645DX P4 2.53/533 ATA 133 setup, keeping my DDR2400, Ti 4400 and SB Live X-Gamer. XP1900 is currently overclocked to XP2000+ (Ti 4400 overclocked also to Ti 4600) and I will overclock the P4 as well. With my new setup, should I run NTFS instead of FAT32 as I will need to reformat anyway? Or should I run an NTFS partition for OS and utilities and run FS in a FAT32 partition?All advise welcome.Thanks.FL_Flyer

[Guest outtatimeiii]

I dont think it will matter, they both seem just as fast to me. For you, I recommend FAT32. FAT32 is the most compatible with games (I had some nasty probs with NTFS on this comp with a select few games, not FS2002), and you really dont need the features like compressing your drive (which makes it wayyyyy slower, trust me I found out myself :) ) and added security. NTFS also will not let you see your drive in DOS or non NT based OS's (Win98, Win98SE, WinMe). I did NTFS in XP because I run on a home network and I dont want anyone in my stuff :) .Best plan is to just keep FAT32, unless you want the added file system security stuff.

[Guest ScottPilot]

Hi!I switched to NTFS from FAT32 and have NO problems running any of my games and simulations. I currently own over 300 games and simulations for the PC.NTFS is much faster and a more stable file system where Win XP is concerned. It defragments much less and with Win XP, it is a much more efficient files system in my opinion.The only reason that I see not to use NTFS as opposed to FAT32, is if you will be using dual boot operating systems on your HD partitions. In this case, you definitely want to stay with FAT 32, but if that is not the case, even Microsoft recommends that you use NTFS when running a computer with Windows XP on it.There is a pretty good book named, "Microsoft Windows XP Inside and Out" put out by Microsoft press that discusses the file system as related to Windows XP and earlier MS O.S