WIn XP HD format

[JackHammer]

In Winxp what is the difference between NTFS and fat32?

[JackHammer]

Under winxp, you don't really get to use DOS. Furthermore, I have this 40 gig harddrive from IBM and I formatted as NTFS. It only shows that I have 31 gig. I somehow lost 9 gig of space. I'm using this drive just as a storage drive and so nothing is on it as of now. Plus my 120gig WD drive partitioned into 3 shows only 100 or so gig. Where did my 20 gig go?

[aznkiddo]

hahaha.. NTFS is a better kind of compression and more secure.. true.. fat 32 was designed for only like under 3 gig HDs only.. no sure on the amount... but it was low...

anyways, HDs were never really meant for them to get that large.... as for where ur gigs went.. they are still there.. just that when u format.. in NTFS you get to set "allocation unit size" then its like a space dot where they store information so they divide it into equal spaces.. hmm.. getting too complicated... as me later.. [email protected]

aim=renzo312

[Joshua]

Yeah, you lose some space to overhead.

A gb is actually more than 1000 mg, so you lose some space with large partitions. The larger the partition, the more space you'll lose to overhead.

[rajatQ2]

Originally posted by SnotRocket
Yeah, you lose some space to overhead.

A gb is actually more than 1000 mg, so you lose some space with large partitions. The larger the partition, the more space you'll lose to overhead.


Right, so if you want to keep more of that space, make smaller partitions. A lot of the space is wasted in the file allocation table. the larger the partition, the bigger the address space has to be, so the table has to store tons more data.

[Jcranmer]

If you have, or are thinking of, getting a DVD-R drive make sure you use NTFS. Fat32 has I belive a 2GB file size limit that will cause you problems if you try to author a DVD-R for video since file size can be over 4GB.

There is a command line option from a DOS window (under XP) that will allow you to convert from fat32 to NTFS at a later time without losing any data. Oddly enough the command is "convert". :D

The syntax in case anyone wants to use it is:

convert X: /FS:NTFS

Where X is the drive you want to convert.

[Jeffbx]

Originally posted by Jcranmer
There is a command line option from a DOS window (under XP) that will allow you to convert from fat32 to NTFS at a later time without losing any data. Oddly enough the command is "convert". :D


Just remember that you can switch from FAT32 to NTFS, but you can't go back to FAT32. Once you're at NTFS, you can't switch without a re-format.

[Jcranmer]

Originally posted by Jeffbx


Just remember that you can switch from FAT32 to NTFS, but you can't go back to FAT32. Once you're at NTFS, you can't switch without a re-format.

You are correct, of course. I should have mentioned that in my original message. I had intended to, but forgot. :)

[kain9i6]

Originally posted by Jeffbx


Just remember that you can switch from FAT32 to NTFS, but you can't go back to FAT32. Once you're at NTFS, you can't switch without a re-format.

Once you go NTFS you'll never go back..

[kain9i6]

that's what your second computer running Windows 98 SE is for.. =0)