Re: Is NTFS OK for Audio?

"Tim Sprout" <tman@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> I set up my Widows2000 workstation with a FAT32 file system rather
> than a NTFS file system because I read that large files streamed faster
> using FAT32. I am running up against the 4 gigabyte file size limitation
of
> FAT32. I am considering converting my data drive to NTFS. Is there
> any disadvantage to using NTFS for audio? The system is dual Pentium
> processor, with a RAID 0 hard drive array.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Tim Sprout


I read some posts on microsoft.public.win2000.general newsgroup. Apparently,
the best course to go from FAT32 to NTFS, is to back up my data drive,
reformat,
and restore. Converting an existing partition from the command line
automatically uses
the smallest available cluster size of 512 bytes, which leads to a slow down
in
performance due to increased fragmentation because there are more clusters
per file.
Also the Master File Table created during conversion will be fragmented.
Reformating
to NTFS usually results in a cluster size of 4K, a compromise between space
efficiency
and fragmentation. I haven't tried Partition Magic. I think it allows one to
chose cluster
size when converting. (I just thought of this). I have an old version
somewhere, and
Drive Image 7, that I got at one of those weekend covention center computer
sales
galas. It seems Symnatec's Ghost has replaced Drive Image.

I chose FAT32 originally to network better with my Windows98 machine
(probably
an error in thinking), and to allow my Windows2000 machine to boot up from a
Win98
boot disk floppy so I could delete bad drivers, etc. during Blue Screen of
Death times.
The Windows2000 Recovery Console takes forever to load, about ten minutes or
so,
maybe longer, and I never seem to have the third party drivers handy it
needs to read
my striped hard drives.

In the meantime I'll use an external NTFS drive for those big files.

Thanks for the responses.

Regards,

TS


.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: convert external drive?
    ... >> and D: (NTFS) drives. ... Right now, everything is FAT32, and the external drive is ... So unless you have some special need for a FAT32 partition on your ... All, or virtually all, commercially-available USB external hard drives ...
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  • Re: convert external drive?
    ... > and D: (NTFS) drives. ... Right now, everything is FAT32, and the external drive is ... So unless you have some special need for a FAT32 partition on your ... All, or virtually all, commercially-available USB external hard drives ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.general)
  • Re: Sorry to have to ask this.
    ... The file system on a CD is CDFS which can be read by other OS'es.. ... MVP - Windows Shell/User ... >>> dilemma of whether or not to go with NTFS or stick with FAT32. ...
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  • Re: NTFS vs FAT32
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