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Why FAT over NTFS?

iruuliruul
edited May 2010 in Technology
I have a new flash drive and I'm thinking of reformatting it to NTFS so I can transfer larger files to it. AFAIK, the only major disadvantage is that it wont be recognized on preXP windows and Macs, which is irrelevant to me. Are there any other reasons to not reformat? Will the read/write speed, lifetime, reliability, etc be different in NTFS?

Comments

  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    NTFS is now pretty standard. Oddly, no-one ever wrote a proper Windows EXT3 driver.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Because the Linux people who are capable of such a thing use Linux already and thus don't need it.

    You have to be careful with NTFS though, cause there are 2 versions. There's 2K/XP NTFS and Vista/7 NTFS. Vista/7 can read 2K/XP, but 2K/XP can not read Vista/7.
  • iruuliruul
    Because the Linux people who are capable of such a thing use Linux already and thus don't need it.

    You have to be careful with NTFS though, cause there are 2 versions. There's 2K/XP NTFS and Vista/7 NTFS. Vista/7 can read 2K/XP, but 2K/XP can not read Vista/7.
    Hmm. I would need the 2k/XP one then since that would be more compatible with the computers I use. How do I choose which one to format? I dont see an option for this on my vista machine.
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    You format it on an XP machine, that's the only option.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Or, I think, from an Ubuntu Live CD using GParted.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    edited May 2010
    Unless you plan on having files larger than 4GB, just stick with FAT32. Actually, you should see if you can format the drive as exFAT. XP should be able to.
    Or, I think, from an Ubuntu Live CD using GParted.
    Or a Gparted boot cd.
    Post edited by Victor Frost on
  • iruuliruul
    Unless you plan on having files larger than 4GB, just stick with FAT32. Actually, you should see if you can format the drive as exFAT. XP should be able to.
    I do plan on having large file sizes, so I think I need NTFS but I dont have access to anything other than vista or win 7. I would do exFAT but that is suppose to be limited to vista sp1 and win 7 only.
  • AprecheApreche
    I do plan on having large file sizes, so I think I need NTFS but I dont have access to anything other than vista or win 7. I would do exFAT but that is suppose to be limited to vista sp1 and win 7 only.
    Files bigger than 4 Gigabytes? WTF kind of file?
  • George PatchesGeorge Patches
    Unless you plan on having files larger than 4GB, just stick with FAT32
    Personally, I've always found the idea of using a non-journaled file system on a removable media like a flash drive to be a hideously bad idea. However, the fact of the world is that FAT is the only system with wide support. Even my 360 can't read NTFS.
    I do plan on having large file sizes
    Larger than 4GB?
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    ISO files and Steam game files are the only thing I can think of. That and video editing files.
  • iruuliruul
    Files bigger than 4 Gigabytes? WTF kind of file?
    Occasionally I want to transfer some image files which easily exceed 4 gigs.
  • lackofcheeselackofcheese
    You mean disc images?
  • iruuliruul
    You mean disc images?
    Yeah. Sometimes I'll have large video or compressed zip files too. I may or may not have files over 4 gigs, but I dont want to have to reformat later if I find out I do.
  • no fun girlno fun girl
    heh i used EXT3 on my removables, because even though the available windows drivers don't use permissions, i use it for the journaling.

    BECAUSE:
    my drive, being a WDpassport with a microUSB connection, has a habit of disconnecting when bumped (until of course, i taped the cord in with stretchy vinyl tape, where it now inconveniently sticks out and needs more vigorous bumpage to disconnect.) anyway, it came with HFS+ which i promptly switched to NTFS in order to use on my bootcamp partition without enabling macdrive (which windows absolutely hates and tries to chkdsk all the time). it got bumped, and suddenly upon remounting the drive, i found that the MFT had broken, and i had 30GB of non files taking up space. to make it more fun, windows refused to even recognize the disk, and the drive doesn't have a standard drive port (like sata) -- only microUSB. so i quick reformatted the drive in Mac, and then restored all the files in Windows. which was fun, considering my bootcamp partition only had 9GB free and my flash drive was 2GB... one of those cross-the-desert math riddles.

    now, if it gets disconnected, i just replay the journal and everyone is happy-ish.
    i just also have a tiny fat partition on it with relevant mac and windows drivers, in case i ever want to use it elsewhere.

    i'm wondering if i can desolder the microUSB and switch it to miniUSB...
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    ISO files and Steam game files are the only thing I can think of. That and video editing files.
    This. I've got loads and loads of hour long raw video files over 4gb.
  • AprecheApreche
    If you've got big videos, external hard drive is what you want, not USB stick.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    If you've got big videos, external hard drive is what you want, not USB stick.
    Seriously. Even if you need portability, you'd want a portable USB hard drive, not flash. Besides, high capacity flash is expensive.
  • iruuliruul
    Seriously. Even if you need portability, you'd want a portable USB hard drive, not flash. Besides, high capacity flash is expensive.
    Well, I already have a 32gb stick and I would like to use it for large files to carry on my keychain at all times.
  • zombie a gogozombie a gogo
    If you're going to be plugging into anything like a PS3 to watch videos I'd stick with FAT.
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