which is bette file system? FAT or NTFS?

[oliverzimmerman]

HI...

I want to format my hard drive but I dont know which file system is better, FAT or NTFS....

as your observation, which make your system faster?
what is the main purpose of FAT and NTFS?


thanks....

[alphaben]

Essentially, there are three different file systems available for Windows XP: FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS. It is best that you format your hard drive into NTFS. FAT16 doesn't support compression, encryption, or advanced security using access control lists. FAT32 is an extension of FAT16 which also shares the same limited security. Also, many operating systems cannot work well with FAT32. On the other hand, you can convert FAT16 or FAT32 into NTFS. Bear in mind that once you have converted your hard drive into NTFS, you cannot go back to FAT without reformatting the drive or partition again.

I’d recommend that you format at least a small partition as FAT. This would be a good place to store recovery tools or drivers for reinstallation.

[Einstein]

I agree with what alphaben said on allocating a small partition as FAT because this is usually used on dual boot configurations so it is very important when it comes to reinstallation and recovery.

NTFS stands out as the better format than FAT32 because the latter offers better security and reliability. Also, FAT32 can be converted to NTFS but it won't apply the other way around. If you do want to revert to FAT32 from NTFS, you will have to reformat your hard drive and that takes even more time.

My two cents worth.