Another FAT or NTFS question

[hobiecatter]

OK, I have read some of these posts and see there is a lot of different opinions on the subject. I am a little confused on which do with my new HD which will be here in 2 days.
I am going to just give some info on what I have setup and ask for suggestions. Keep in mind this is at my home, only other computer on network is a laptop that has Windows 98 and can not be upgraded to XP. (too old)

I currently have a 30 gig HD (almost full) with three partitions all FAT, dual boot with 98SE and XP. I want to go all XP (not dual boot) and use my new HD (WD-120GB, 8mb buffer) Don't really plan on partitioning it, but if I need to, I will. I want to optimize this for fast gaming, and handling large files as well, such as DVD's.

Now Please tell me what would be a good combination of FAT vs NTFS partitions to use on my new drive. I really don't want to partition, but it seems to me, I can't use just NTFS because of my laptop.

Also, should I ghost my old drive over, or fesh install XP, since I don't want 98SE on there anymore? I would rather not have to take the time, but want a robust system.

Thanks for your help

 

[johnodq]

If you want to handle files bigger than 4Gb then NTFS will do that with no problems FAT32 will not.

As to the differences between your laptop in Fat32 and NTFS on your other pc, it won't matter the 2 computers will see each other ok, they don't care what format the drive at the other end of the network is in, the only time you'd find it a problem is if you booted into DOS/98 and then tried to access a local NTFS drive, without a special utility dos/98 can't see NTFS.

BTW: Are you planning on using XP Home or Pro, Pro is better for gaming. ---------------
Johnodq
---------------
Please let me know if the advice I give is of help.
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Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.

 

[cdogg]

Across a network, the file system you decide to use (FAT or NTFS) won't matter to other pc's. They'll be able to see whatever you share.

If XP and 98 are currently on separate partitions, then you should be able to wipe the 98 partition, copy the XP partition over to the new HD, and re-run XP's setup choosing the option to "Repair" (boot from CD). The reason why you want to re-run the setup is so that the MBR is repaired to remove any references to 98. After running it, you should be OK. If not, formatting/reinstalling will be the best 2nd option.

Especially on a 120GB drive, it is always wise to paritition. Usually, you only want to keep a small percentage of your drive for the system partition (C. On a drive that size, anywhere from 10-30GB should be fine. That way when you want to defrag, you don't have to defrag the whole drive. Plus, it helps with organization by storing personal files/data on a separate partition.

As far as choosing NTFS or FAT32, that's totally up to you. For a home system, it probably won't matter either way. They perform near identical in benchmarks, though NTFS performs slightly better on larger partitions (over 40GB in size).


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[hobiecatter]

Thanks for answering my questions. I am going to use XP Pro. So good there. Another thing, One thing that I didn't like about my smaller drive, was I run out of room to install games. I want to have plenty of room for that. If I partition, should I leave the C drive big enough for installing the games there? Or would it be best to install them on a separate partiton?

Thanks again

 

[KimLeece]

If you follow cdogg's suggestion and create a C partition that is between 10-30GB then you will have 80-110GB left. Either split that again into two (for ease of defraging) or leave it as one. In either event put your games on the second partition (If it's just one it will be D: or D: and E: if you use two.) Leave the C: drive for your operating system files and updates etc. All your programs, including games should go to the other drive/drives.
As far as NTFS vs FAT32 is concerned it is worth mentioning that NTFS is a little better at file orginization and doesn't need defraging as often as FAT32. You also gain more control over the drive in security issues - although I suppose that is not much problem for a home system. Microsoft actually recommends NTFS unless you want to install an earlier version of Windows on one partition and have the computer in a dual boot scenario - Windows 98/ME etc, cannot access NTFS partions - but that is probably the only real reason not to use NTFS.

Kim Leece.

 

[cdogg]

hobiecatter,

Kim adds a few good tips, so be sure to pick them up! In response to your last question, you would want to install all games to your D: drive (or separate partition - E:, F:, etc.).

The point in having a small C: drive is to store only the OS, system files, and some apps that you know you're never going to uninstall or at least keep longterm. This will help cut down on fragmentation. Install everything else to other partitions. This is where you have to be picky and choose which apps are going to have the priviledge to be on C. Games, for instance, take up a lot of space. There's no point in having them on the C: drive. MS Office XP is an example of something you may want to include on C. Over time, the other partitions will need more space than your C: drive depending on how picky you are.

You get the idea...

Just remember that with 3rd-party software like Partition Magic, you can re-size your partitions later if you thinked you goofed in the beginning.


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[hobiecatter]

Hey,

all that answered, thanks a tons. I am going to go ahead an use NTFS on the whole drive and partition for the c drive as you all recommend. This sounds like the best choice for me. I apprectiate all of the great help that you give newbies like myself.