FAT or NTFS?

There is a common question in the newsgroups and at various forums. It is, in short, "Should I format my disk as NTFS or FAT?"

It's not really a very good question because from a stability and security standpoint NTFS is far greater a choice. With FAT you can't use permission based file access rules. With NFTS you seldom see a chkdsk error due to self healing.

So it's not really a good question but it can be? If you're using a FAT based disk format then you're not able to access NTFS formatted disks. This means, for example, that if you hose an install based on NTFS then you're sorely limited in the tools you have to access and repair the disk's content. There has been some talk about finding a way to do this natively but I've not seen anything come from these talks yet.

So, have a look here:
NTFS access from DOS

NTFS4DOS is a freeware application for home use.

We highly recommend that you use NTFS whenever possible. If you would like some more information on the subject please see here:
Microsoft Windows XP - Choosing between NTFS, FAT, and FAT32

If you have a FAT32 formatted disk and want to change it (it's a bit of a risk so backup first) then see here for the command line to do so:
How to Convert FAT Disks to NTFS

OS: 2000 & XP > General
Date: 5/9/06

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