to ntfs or not to ntfs

[Danjp]

Hello, I have xp home , p4, 30 gig split into 2 equal partitions. I have only used 30% of space but drive c has almost 30,000 files. I am using fat 32 and have heard that as drive size and number of files increases the benefits of ntfs come into play. Should I change over and is there any downside? danjp

[Blackwar]

well, ntfs can't really hurt you and can only help you.. It has increased security systems and a more secure and stable structure.. So i say, go for it :)

[harrytb]

don't forget though,you can go from fat32 to ntfs,but not the other way.

[Reverend]

Welcome to Techzonez Danjp.
Because of it's fast indexing capabilities it is more beneficial to use NTFS,especially on larger partitions.Also as Blackwar said,it is more stable and secure.

[aKaFrEE]

ive only ever had one problem with NTFS..the fact that you cant access it from dos (which now you cant even get to without 98 or a boot disk)...other than that is great

[Big Booger]

Take it from Microsoft:
:arrow:READ THE MS KNOWLEDGE BASE (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q100108)

It would seem that NTFS is the way to go for realiability. I infact have both partitions, and have found the NTFS is a bit slower, but more reliable and faster to defrag, and is more quiet than the FAT32... strange as that may sound...

In terms of security, it has come to my attention from reading that article:
Currently, there is no file encryption built into NTFS. Therefore, someone can boot under MS-DOS, or another operating system, and use a low-level disk editing utility to view data stored on an NTFS volume.
so I dunt know how secure it really is after reading that...

Read the full article and judge for yourself Danjp.

By the way welcome to the boards, may it be a fruitful stay for you.
BB

[phishhead]

harryb if you have partition magic 7 I believe then you can go from ntfs back to fat 16 or fat32...I've did it in the past.FYI