Ive been wondering. Which format of hard disk is best? FAT32 or NTFS?
If you have no idea what im talking about then go to your computer, then click on one of your hard disks, and at the bottom of windows explorer, it will say which one you have.
Well, here is all I know about these types of formats so far:
FAT32:
Pro:Supported by more computers
Con:It can only have files in sizes of 4GB chunks
NTFS:
Pro:Files can be any size
Con:Not supported by as many comptuers
It seems that NTFS is better but im not sure. The support thing only probably matters on removable hard disks.
I have expeienced a really big problem with a FAT32 disk. I had one in a Hard Drive Camcorder, and i tried to do a long film, but then later, after i had finished the file was in 3 parts which was quite annoying as there was a 30 second gap between each, AND im not allowed to re-format it.
Thanks,
Oh yeah, im running Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit
You did not mention which version OS you are using, but the only reason I can think of to choose FAT32 over NTFS, is if you have a multiboot system , where Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows ME is one of the boot options. These OS?s do not recognize NTFS volumes, and you would need FAT32 on any local drives accessed by them.
In all other cases, for reliability, security, and efficiency, its NTFS.
I handle things like HD mkv's, DVD images as well as huge 237GB truecrypt files. so for me it's NTFS. NTFS even if I didn't. Even though my co-booting linuxs' support for it sucks.
I changed my NTFS to FAT32 on my XP system many many years ago. There are some old apps that will not work with NTFS that are far superior to anything written since those bygone days.