File Sharing - FAT32 vs NTFS

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  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

Hello,


My host computer's file system is FAT32, while the client machines file
system is NTFS. Can this be the reason I cannot set individual file
permissions for users across the network?

I read somewhere that to be able to take advantage of extra resource sharing
security features offered in WinXP my drive must be formatted as NTFS. Is
this true?

If true, then can I change my FAT32 drive to NTFS without destroying data?

Any feedback about this is most welcome.
 
Alias said:
Hello,


My host computer's file system is FAT32, while the client machines file
system is NTFS. Can this be the reason I cannot set individual file
permissions for users across the network? Yes.

I read somewhere that to be able to take advantage of extra resource
sharing
security features offered in WinXP my drive must be formatted as NTFS. Is
this true? Yes

If true, then can I change my FAT32 drive to NTFS without destroying data? Yes

Any feedback about this is most welcome.
Click to expand...
Backup the disk just to be safe... Almost any command can be misused.
Jim
 
Jim,

Just one more thing.

Can I use the WinXP CD to change the file system from FAT32 to NTFS, or do I
need to use a third-party software program such as Acronis Partition Expert?

-A
 
From: "Alias" <[email protected]>

| Jim,
|
| Just one more thing.
|
| Can I use the WinXP CD to change the file system from FAT32 to NTFS, or do I
| need to use a third-party software program such as Acronis Partition Expert?
|
| -A
|

Use the CONVERT.EXE utility to convert FAT32 to NTFS

convert /?
Converts FAT volumes to NTFS.

CONVERT volume /FS:NTFS [/V]

volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
/FS:NTFS Specifies that the volume to be converted to NTFS.
/V Specifies that Convert should be run in verbose mode.
 
From: "Alias" <[email protected]>

| Durby,
|
| If I do this "convert" command will it overwrite my existing data?
|
| -A
|


No, but a backup should be made just-in-case before running; convert.exe.
 
Alias said:
Hello,


My host computer's file system is FAT32, while the client machines file
system is NTFS. Can this be the reason I cannot set individual file
permissions for users across the network?
Click to expand...

Correct. FAT32 has no security capabilities.

I read somewhere that to be able to take advantage of extra resource sharing
security features offered in WinXP my drive must be formatted as NTFS. Is
this true?
Click to expand...


Yes. Personally, I wouldn't even consider using FAT32 when NTFS is an
option. FAT32 has no security capabilities, no compression
capabilities, no fault tolerance, and a lot of wasted hard drive space
on volumes larger than 8 Gb in size. But your computing needs may vary,
and there is no hard and fast answer.

To answer your questions without getting too technical is
difficult, but has been handled quite well by Alex Nichol in the
article here:

FAT & NTFS File Systems in Windows XP
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfs.htm

Somewhat more technical information is here:

Limitations of the FAT32 File System in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/directory/article.asp?ID=kb;en-us;Q314463

Choosing Between File Systems
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tr...prodtechnol/winntas/tips/techrep/filesyst.asp

NTFS file system
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/ntfs/

If true, then can I change my FAT32 drive to NTFS without destroying data?
Click to expand...


You can safely convert your current hard drive to NTFS whenever
desired, without having to format the partition and reinstall
everything. As always when performing any serious changes, back up any
important data before proceeding, just in case. A little advance
preparation is also strongly recommended, so you can avoid any
performance hits caused by the default cluster size:

Converting FAT32 to NTFS in Windows
http://www.aumha.org/a/ntfscvt.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

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both at once. - RAH
 
Hello again,

Thanks to all who responded. I successfully converted my drive from FAT32 to
NTFS without any problems. I got awesome feedback on this and all of you ROCK
to the max.

-Alias
 
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