FAT32 vs. NTFS for external harddrive

dalh · 11-10-2006 02:52PM #1

Hi,
I've just bought an external hard drive (WD 500GB Book) which has come pre-formatted as FAT32.
I can't imagine I'll be trying to put files greater than 4GB on it and I won't be partitioning it. It'll only be used on Windows 2000 and XP machines.

What I'm wondering is this: is there any other advantage in re-formatting it to NTFS e.g. security, stability etc.?

Thanks,
Dalh.

#Smokey# · 11-10-2006 02:54PM

well fat32 wont accept files larger than 1GB i think so NTFS is better option also NTFS is better for fragment prevention

Kimbot · 11-10-2006 02:55PM

This might help.

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

rogue-entity · 11-10-2006 03:48PM

Hmm, go for NTFS if you only intend to write to it on a Windows 2000/XP machine. MacOS X and Linux can read NTFS volumes but have limited write support. Also, Windows wont allow you to format a drive larger than 32GB with FAT 32 (not sure about older versions of windows though).

aidan_walsh · 11-10-2006 04:08PM

FAT32's upper file size is 4GB, not one.

If you are only using it on Windows 2000+ machines, you should have no problem using NTFS.

#Smokey# · 11-10-2006 04:24PM

oh yeah i was thinking of just FAT lol

dalh · 11-10-2006 04:45PM

Sounds like NTFS is the way to go.
Cheers.

FAT32 vs. NTFS for external harddrive

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