FAT32 or NTFS

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jon
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Jon

We need to upgrade some notebooks and I'm stuck on this FAT32 vs NTFS issue.
We use several Win-98 vintage programs, have a lot of data stored on
floppies, and do not network within the office. Should I stay with FAT32?
 
NTFS is the most secure and robust file system choice you have. The only
reason you should consider using FAT32 is if you are going to have Windows
9x installed on the same partition (bad idea) or else need to access data on
that drive from another partition on the same computer with Windows 9x. A
Windows 9x computer somewhere else on the network isn't going to have a
problem accessing file shares. A program that is designed for Windows 98
will install on NTFS. A computer with an NTFS hard drive will have no
problem reading floppies. So, once again, unless you have BOTH operating
systems on the SAME computer, I would never choose FAT32. Security is just
too important this day and age, and FAT32 has absolutely NO security
features.
 
In
Jon said:
We need to upgrade some notebooks and I'm stuck on this FAT32 vs NTFS
issue. We use several Win-98 vintage programs, have a lot of data
stored on floppies, and do not network within the office. Should I
stay with FAT32?
Click to expand...


What you have stored on floppies is irrelevant. Floppies are
neither FAT32 nor NTFS, but FAT12. Regardless of what file
system(s) you have on your hard drive, your ability to access
floppies doesn't change.

My vote is for NTFS.
 
NTFS offers greater security and more stability. It won't affect you ability
to read floppies nor will it affect you ability to use certain programs. If
your "vintage programs" won't run on XP it won't matter if the disk is
formatted as NTFS or FAT32.
 
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