LaCie d2 Serial ATA User Manual

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LaCie d2 Serial ATA User Manual Manual pdf 26 page image

5. Tech Tipspage 26LaCie d2 Hard Drive Serial ATAUser’s Manual5.1.2. File System Formats – Windows UsersThere are basically two file system formats for Windows: FAT 32 and NTFS. The following information will hopefully makechoosing one or the other a little easier.FAT 32FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table, which dates back to the beginnings of DOS programming. Originally, FAT wasonly 16 bits, but after the second release of Windows 95 it was upgraded to 32 bits, hence the name FAT 32. In theory, FAT32 volume sizes can range from less than 1MB all the way to 2TB. It is the native file system of Windows 98 and WindowsMe, and is supported by Windows 2000 and XP. When FAT 32 is used with Windows 2000 and XP, though, volume size islimited to 32GB (by the Windows partition utility, i.e. Disk Manager), and the individual file size is limited to 4GB.NTFSThis acronym stands for New Technology Filing System, and it is the native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000 andXP. NTFS offers several features that are not available with FAT 32; i.e. file compression, encryption, permissions, andauditing, as well as the ability to mirror drives and RAID 5 capabilities. The minimum supported volume size for NTFS is10MB, with a maximum of 2TB, with no limit to file size. Volumes created in NTFS can only be directly accessed (not throughshares) by Windows NT, Windows 2000 and XP, without resorting to help from third-party products.Guidelines for Choosing FAT 32 Or NTFSUse FAT 32 if:• You want to access your data on any Operating System - FAT 32 is compatible with Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, XP, NT,Mac OS 9.x and Mac OS 10.x (see Important Info note in section 5.1.1. File System Formats - Mac Users for moreinformation).• You will be dual booting with an Operating System other than Windows NT or Windows 2000.• You may need the ability to dual boot down the line. Once you have converted a volume from NTFS to FAT 32, there is nogoing back. You can convert from FAT 32 to NTFS, but not the other way around.Use NTFS if:• You want to optimize drive performance under Windows 2000 or XP.• You want to encrypt files, assign permissions to files, or want to audit files for access.• You will be formatting partitions larger than 32GB.• You need to store individual files that are larger than 4GB.• You need a filing system that can be mirrored or structured like a RAID 5 configuration.