Hi, Leonard.
So far I have never found a problem
and have 'been around' for 'a few' years (since the
8088's).
Gotcha beat just a little. I started with the Z80 in the TRS-80. ;^}
1: Losing the boot files under NTFS is goodbye data while
under FAT you can boot to a floppy.
Why not make a floppy that will boot you into Win2K? (Actually, I've been
using WinXP since it became available and see no reason to go back to
Win2K.)
What you need on that floppy are the WinNT-style boot sector and the "system
files" (ntldr, ntdetect.com and boot.ini). These are what must normally be
in the Root of the System Partition (almost always C:\). The A:\boot.ini
must point to the "boot folder" in the "boot volume" of the HD. The boot
folder for WinNT4 and Win2K is \WinNT, by default (\Windows in other
versions of Windows), in any volume on any HD in your computer. Boot.ini is
a simple text file, but normally hidden, system and read-only; after
removing (or bypassing) those attributes, you can edit it with Notepad or
any other text editor. Make sure the line under [operating systems] points
to the right rdisk(#)partition(#)\WinNT, where the disk numbers start with
zero and the partition numbers start with 1 on each HD. For most users,
with Win2K installed in C:, it is rdisk(0)partition(1)\WinNT; if your Win2K
is installed in E:, for example, the second partition on your second HD,
then it would be rdisk(1)partition(2)\WinNT. Then make sure that this is
also the location shown as default= under [boot loader] at the top of
A:\boot.ini.
To make this boot floppy, put a blank diskette in Drive A:. In My Computer,
right-click on A: and choose Format. DON'T make it an MS-DOS boot floppy.
(That option is offered in WinXP, but not in Win2K, as I recall.) After it
is formatted, copy the 3 system files from C:\ to A:\, then edit A:\boot.ini
as required.
This boot floppy should work for either NTFS or FAT (16 or 32) HD volumes.
2: When encountering an 'undeletable' virus corrupted file
under NTFS one is basically out of luck. Under FAT32 I
have yet to find a file I cannot delete after booting to a
floppy.
I have yet to find a file I can't delete from the "DOS" window, no matter
which file system was used to format the volume where it is. But, then,
with one minor exception 8 years ago (when I was still using FAT32), I've
never had a virus. (Not bragging - it can happen to me, I know - but very
happy!)
My recommendation: NTFS all the way.
Except...I also had my share of HD disasters over the past couple of
decades, so I do retain some degree of paranoia. My Drive C: is FAT16.
That practice started when I was running Win95 and FAT16, so it had nothing
to do with NTFS originally. When I got this "monster" 9.1 GB HD, I had to
divide it into at least 5 volumes because FAT16 couldn't handle more than 2
GB in each volume. So, I created an extended partition with four 2 GB
logical drives after a single 715 MB primary partition at the front of the
HD. (That 9.1 GB actually equaled 8,715 MB when we translated from
marketing numbers to computer numbers.)
Skipping the intervening transitions, I still have that 715 MB Drive C:
formatted FAT16. As I added two more HDs, I've also created minimal (8 MB)
primary partitions at the front of each, formatted them FAT16, and installed
the NT and MS-DOS System Files there. Now I'm comfy knowing that, no matter
what happens, I can always boot to WinXP from any of those 3 HDs, or I can
boot to MS-DOS on any of them to attempt other recovery tricks. On that 715
MB partition, I still have older DOS versions of Norton and a few other
gut-level utilities. Luckily, I've not really needed them in years!
All my other volumes are logical drives, formatted as NTFS. (Well,
actually, I let the Longhorn pre-alpha version create and format the latest
volume, so it uses the new WinFS, but WinXP sees it as NTFS.) Volume sizes
range from 8 GB to 60 GB.
There are times when I wish for the simplicity of FAT (12 and 16, not 32).
I've rebuilt FATs and Directories and MBRs a byte at a time after lightning
storms or other power glitches, using Norton's DiskEdit and other tools like
SuperZap. But I haven't studied NTFS to even be able to read the MFT, and
don't have to tools to read it. I've relied on R-Studio to recover from my
last couple of disasters.
An experienced friend tells me that, aside from the
scurity features, Windows 2000 or XP may not work properly
when set up in FAT32.
Baloney! Win2K/XP mix and match FAT32/NTFS natively. Because Microsoft
wants us all to transition to NTFS, they made Win2K and WinXP unable to
FORMAT volumes larger than 32 GB as FAT32, but Win9x/ME can format volumes
at least as large as 127 GB as FAT32 and Win2K/XP can then use all of those
volumes. Unless you plan to put Win9x/ME on this computer, it's time to
leave MS-DOS and FAT in the past (except for that universally-compatible
small Drive C:, just for paranoia's sake).
For many details about such subjects, check out the online versions of the
Win2K and WinXP Resource Kits:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows200...rl=/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/en-us/Pro.asp
And especially this chapter:
File Systems Overview
http://www.microsoft.com/resources/...Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkc_fil_buvl.asp
The links don't always go to the exact page I have in mind, but you can find
lots of good stuff all around these pages.
Also, be sure to read the Help file for Disk Management. Lots of good stuff
there, too! And I'm amazed that, 4 years since it first appeared in Win2K,
many experienced users still haven't found it.
Didn't mean this post to be so long, Leonard, but I couldn't resist throwing
in a few reminiscences. ;^}
RC
