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Difference between FAT and NTFS

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8 replies

by hdrysdale

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Could someone explain to me the difference between the FAT file system and the NTFS file system. I have a partitioned hard drive with c:\ containing the FAT system and d:\ containing NTFS. Could this have anything do why I am getting a hard disk full message however both partitions have 4GB left for space.

8 replies

by sparky4

file systems:
FAT:(also known as FAT16) the file system used by Win95A and earlier. maximum size limit of 2 GB.
FAT32:used by Win95B and later. maximum size of about 4 terrabytes. (i think)
NTFS: used by NT. support for extra security features. not sure of max. size.
HPFS:used by OS/2

if your C: drive is FAT and your running windows NT, you still have that 2 GB limit on the partition. Even if the partition is larger, that's all the size your going to get.

by don christner

Another reason you may be receiving the harddisk full message is if you have too many files in the root of a drive. If you can not have more than 255 files in the root of any drive (if you use long filenames you can store even less). This only applies to the root, ie, C:\ not folders beneath that.

by buffalodan

Fat16/fat32 cannot read or write to NTFS, NTFS cannot read or write to fat 32,
NTFS can read and write to Fat16

Fat16/32 has the 256 file/folder limitation in regards to the root directory,

also, corruption can cause the error you are seeing, make sure that your temp folders are clean and empty, and that no other file system problems are present. (scandisk for win98, diskeeper for winnt-you may need to download a copy of diskeeper)

WHEN DO YOU GET THIS MESSAGE?

this could be a critical question.....

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