NTFS & Networks

right i have a main pc with xp pro and a 2nd pc with win ME on the network. (2pc network)

so... im going to reinstall the main pc in a few days.. and i dont know weather to use NTFS or not. i use fat32 at the mo but NTFS just sounds so much better. but im not sure if my other pc on the network will be able to access my Hds with NTFS? if there is no problem then ill use it, but if the other pc wont access the hd because of the different file system then i wont..

so if anyone knows if it will work or not could let me know.

Cheers

 

Filesystem (NTFS or FAT32) has nothing to do with networking.
If the XP box is NTFS, the ME box will still be able to read write to it via the network if you set it up that way.
Having a mix of FAT, FAT32, NTFS and LinuxFS systems on my LAN (peer to peer), my XP box can read/write to all other systems.

 

It will work fine. The file system is only for storage on the disk. Once the data comes off the disk, it's just data.

The network doesn't care about file-systems.

 

right so they will both be able to read and wright to the otheres hard drive without problems then?

Good. Cheers guys

 

oh i just thought.. i have 2 HDs the 2nd one will be fat32. will i still be able to access it if i made the c drive(windows installed dir) NTFS? i.e C drive NTFS. D drive Fat32?

 

XP can read/write to both.
ME can only read/write FAT32.
So, if the computer that has 2 hard drives is running XP, then it will be able to "see" (read/write) both with no trouble.

 

u say.
ME can only read/write FAT32.

but if its over a network the ME pc will be able to read the ntfs disk.

so in otherwords it all will work unless i put a ntfs disk in win Me it wouldnt read it correct?

cheers

 

Over a network, it doesn't matter what file system.
On a local machine, ME will only read/write to FAT and FAT32 filesystem's.
On a local machine, XP will read/write to FAT, FAT32, and NTFS filesystem's.
You're correct. A disk formatted in NTFS will not be recognized by Windows ME in the same computer.

 

great, thanx mate!

will i see big results form changing to NTFS? it says its good for audio / media. ys that?

 

Some say that FAT32 is slightly faster. Most will notice no difference. If in doubt, go FAT32, then at least you can recover it using a floppy. NTFS you cannot, although NTFS is more stable (usually) and thus requires less maintenance.
I use FAT32 in most cases, unless security is an issue (multi-user systems), then NTFS is the only way to go.

 

ah rite.. fat 32 is faster? i thoguht NTFS was ment to be faster? gawd dont know if its worth the hasle now, or i should just stick 2 fat. i guess i aint used it b4 so i can try it.. no harm done

 

FAT32 is faster if the drive is smaller than 32 gigs (about) and NTFS is faster above 32 gigs (not a big difference either way).

 

I agree about the speed thing. In testing you can notice a difference but I've never seen any situation where a user would notice. There may be some but nothing usual/normal.

Fat32 is certainly readable by a wider variety of means. Boot with a floppy and you can see the disk contents via a command prompt.

But NTFS is certainly more secure. There are quite a few settings/options that don't exist with a Fat disk. And from my experience, more stable and harder to crash plus more likely to recover in good condition when it does crash.

And a feature that is mostly of value on production servers that can't be messed with but is also good for workstations whose owners don't like housekeeping - NTFS will continue to run well with fragmentation levels that will cause Fat32 to be slow and crash prone.

And depending on the size of your drives or partitions, NTFS can be much more efficient at file storage. "Cluster Size" is the size of the minimum block of storage area. Any piece of a cluster being used makes the whole cluster unavailable. So if you have a cluster size of 32Kb and you put 10 small files of 2Kb each on it, you have a total of 20Kb of data taking up 320 Kb of space. A 33Kb file will occupy the same 64Kb of drive space as a 63.999Kb file.

NTFS in the current versions (NT4/2K/XP) will use a maximum cluster size of 4Kb on any drive/partition above 2Gb.

Fat32 Partition Size Cluster Size
Drive Size / Cluster Size
260 MB - 8 GB / 4K
8GB - 16GB / 8K
16GB - 32GB / 16K
32GB or more / 32K

So if the drive/partition is larger than 8Gb, NTFS will make better use of the drive space.

 

alrite then. ihave two drives
30gb one
13gb

I use the 30gb drive for the windows dir and all windows
programs.

The 13 i use for my music, pictures, downloaded exes.

Should i make both NTFS?

or neither?

or just the 30gb drive NTFS and leave the 13gb as Fat

Cheers for all your help again people!!!

 

I would make them both FAT32 unless you need some security, or are totally lax in your defrag schedule.
If you feel that space is going to be an issue, then do the main drive/partition NTFS to get the 4k cluster size.

 

Or if you like to tinker and since you are starting from scratch, you might want to consider partitioning the drives. You have a total of 43Gb. If you use 7.8 Gb for the system partition you will have plenty of room. Format that one FAT32 to make it easier to work with later using floppy based utilities if needed.

Take the remaining 35.2Gb as your data partition and format it NTFS.

Best of both worlds IMO. You will probably want to use Dynamic Storage.

 

i already have to drives,
30Gb
13Gb

the 30Gb drive is used for windows

the 13Gb drive is used for general stuff, pix, music, exe's.

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is there anyway i cant test the speed of my HDs? i have a feeling the 13Gb drive is faster, and i could make that the windows drive. as my 13Gb drive is almost full up anyway!

 

www.pcpitstop.com has hard drive speed testing.
What Newt is suggesting is, partition the 30 gig into about a 7.8 gig partition for Windows, and the rest for more storage.
You can then play with both FAT32 and NTFS.
It's only a matter of switching the 30 gig to the primary master position in the computer, and then partitioning and install Windows.

 

yea i understand that, its just i might aswell using mt 13g hd for windows and my 30gd drive for storage. (swap the round) but if the 30g drive is faster then i may not want to do that.