Without going into all of the gory details, old DOS systems and the first Windows systems used FAT (short for File Allocation Table). When Windows 98 came out (or Windows 95 with OSR2) Microsoft added support for FAT32 (for the 32-bit version of FAT) which allowed support for larger disk sizes and used less space to store data by using smaller cluster sizes. It also replaced the old 8.3 naming convention and allowed file names up to 256 characters long.
When Microsoft introduced Windows NT (New Technology), they included a new type of file system- NTFS (NT File System). NTFS was designed to be more stable and reliable. It uses a transaction log to allow it to recover in the event of a crash and supports the ability to span data across more than one hard drive for redundancy in the event that a disk drive fails.
The area of NTFS that we are concerned with most though is how it impacts security. FAT and FAT32 have no inherent security at all. While it is possible to share a directory over the network from a Windows system using FAT32 everyone will be able to open, edit or delete the data contained in that shared folder. NTFS provides the ability to protect individual files as well as folders and restrict which users are allowed access. Additionally, it is possible to grant some users access to simply view the files while granting others the ability to modify or delete the files as well. This more granular level of control provides significantly better security than a FAT32 or FAT-based system.
If you have a dual-boot system that still uses Windows 98 or another Windows 9x system you will need to leave that operating system on a FAT or FAT32 drive as well as any programs or data that you want to access while using that operating system. Other machines on your network will be able to interact with your shared drives and access data that you allow them to whether their system is capable of using NTFS or not, but when you boot the local system into Windows 98 it will be unable to read or access any programs or data on an NTFS drive.
If you upgraded from a previous version of Windows or even just followed installed Windows XP without stopping to consider your options there is a good chance your system is using FAT32 right now. You can find out what file system you are using on your drives by right-clicking the drive in Windows Explorer or My Computer and selecting Properties. The File System of the drive will be listed along with other information about the drive. If you don't have a need for FAT32 and find a drive that is not NTFS you should perform the following steps to convert your drive(s) to NTFS:
- Click Start
- Click All Programs
- Click Accessories
- Click Command Prompt
- In the command prompt window type "convert c: /fs:ntfs" (substitute the appropriate drive letter if you are not converting the "C" drive)
NOTE: This is a one-way ticket. The convert utility from Microsoft will only convert from FAT or FAT32 to NTFS- not the other way around. If you need to convert an NTFS drive to FAT or FAT32 you will need a 3rd-party product such as Partition Magic from Symantec (formerly Powerquest purchased by Symantec in December of 2003).