NTFS or FAT32 on 250 GB USB HDD

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SVM · #1 Post by **SVM** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 5:30 am

Hello!

I read and learned a lot on this very informative forum.
Right now I have a question I could not find an answer to using the forum-search:

I want to use an external usb-hdd (WD 250 GB) on my t60 (running xp pro, 100 GB HDD) for regular backup with drive image or the build in rescue and recovery. In addition I want to backup some folders from time to time and maybe store music or videos (sometimes several gigabyte in size) on the drive.

Now here's the question:
The usb-drive came preformatted with FAT32, my internal HDD is NTFS. Should I reformat the drive in NTFS (and if so, how) or just leave it as it is? What's the pros and cons?

Thank you for the help, best regards,

Sven.

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 6:16 am

Here is more information than you probably want regarding file systems: Windows XP Professional Resource Kit - Working with File Systems

I definitely recommend NTFS over FAT(32) for a large hard drive.

Here is how to use the Format Command: Format

There is also the Convert Command. How to Convert FAT Disks to NTFS
I would only use this if there are files on the hard disk that you want to keep. Otherwise use the Format Command.

Website · #3 Post by **tfflivemb2** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:00 am

Do you plan on using this external drive with any system that might be running an OS older than Win2K?

If you are, then you might want to leave it as Fat32...if not, then I would definately recommend NTFS. In my experience, I couldn't get older systems to properly recognize an NTFS HD.

SVM · #4 Post by **SVM** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 10:46 am

Thanks for the replies!

i read through the links above and learned more about the differences between ntfs and fat32.

But what I don't understand: what's the practical advantage of using ntfs?

- would my backups be any faster?
- would I see any other differences?

As I understand, the downside would be, that I could not use the drive on a machine running Win 98 or MacOS.

Thanks for your help!

K0LO · #5 Post by **K0LO** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:28 am

Journaling file systems like NTFS are more reliable. You'd be less likely to lose data if the power fails during a backup or the disk develops bad sectors.

pianowizard · #6 Post by **pianowizard** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 11:33 am

The files are also a little more compact in NTFS, so your HDD will have a slightly higher capacity than if it were FAT32.

SVM · #7 Post by **SVM** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 3:37 pm

Ok, I am just now reformatting my usb drive to ntfs.

I used the windows context menu instead of the command line step mentioned above. Hope this is no problem.

Formatting takes forever...

Thanks for you help!

smugiri · #8 Post by **smugiri** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 7:13 pm

Actually, Windows (and many other tools) are set up to prevent the creation of FAT32 partitions of more than 32GB. This is done by design to prevent issues that arise with 16 bit applications blah blah blah.

Long story short, unless you have a 3rd party app (and Partition Manager 7 or below cannot do this either), you cannot create an FAT32 partition greater than 32gb.

pianowizard · #9 Post by **pianowizard** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 7:26 pm

smugiri wrote:Actually, Windows (and many other tools) are set up to prevent the creation of FAT32 partitions of more than 32GB.

Really? I have a Windows 98 SE desktop computer with a 120GB HDD formatted as one single FAT32 partition. Were you thinking of the 137GB barrier?

leoblob · #10 Post by **leoblob** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 7:52 pm

If you use FORMAT from a WIN98SE bootable floppy, you can format a drive larger than 32GB into a single partition with FAT32. Then, you can install Windows into that that (large) FAT32 partition, no problem.

However, if you are trying to format a drive using the set-up program that installs Windows, it will not let you create a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB.

I'm pretty sure I got this right... I, too, am using drives greater than 32GB formatted as a single partition under FAT32, and I formatted them from a WIN98SE boot floppy.

smugiri · #11 Post by **smugiri** » Sun Sep 17, 2006 9:03 pm

@leoblob is right, there are lots of tools that will allow you to create FAT32 partitions that are greater than 32gb, what I was saying was that Windows will neither let you create or or format one if you managed to create it using some other tool.

Using the Windows 98SE boot disk is one way to get around this (and this only allows you to format a partition greater than 32gb, NOT create one) as is using the IBM Windows recovery tool in specific circumstances (I have seen it create a 100GB FAT32 partition during a recovery over an exisiting 12gb FAT32 partition.)

I typically use Ranish partition manager to create and format FAT32 partitions since I dual boot linux and like to have partitions that I can use no matter which OS I am in (most linuxes only allow reading of NTFS partitions).

NTFS or FAT32 on 250 GB USB HDD

NTFS or FAT32 on 250 GB USB HDD

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