What are the differences between a FAT and an NTFS file system. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of them?Thomas,

Microsoft can explain this a lot better than me.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/expert/russel_october01.mspx

Hope this helps. Good question, Thomas!

A hard drive must be formatted with some file system that the operating system (OS) recognizes before data may be saved to it. The file system used for hard drives determines which features are available to the OS installed.

FAT 16 (or just FAT) = File ALLOCATION Table. It is the 16-bit format used by DOS & early versions of Windows 95. Files saved on FAT 16 may not have names any longer than eight characters, followed by a dot & three characters.

FAT 32 = The 32-bit format most often used by later versions of Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, & Windows Me. FAT 32 is more stable than FAT 16, supports hard drive partitions larger than 2 GB, does a better job at saving space on your hard drive, & ALLOWS you to use much longer file names (over 200 characters).

NTFS = New Technology Files System. It comes in two flavors: NTFS-4 (used by Windows NT) & NTFS-5 (used by Windows 2000 & Windows XP). NTFS-5 is more stable than FAT 32, allows you to compress INDIVIDUAL files instead of entire logical drives, & lets you set security PERMISSIONS to protect your computer's data (just a few of its advantages).

Some older programs will not work with NTFS-5, but, in my opinion, the increased security & stability of the file system makes it the best choice when installing Windows XP.

Regards,
DOC