Acer FAT32 HDD

I am considering buying an Acer 5672 but am concerned about the FAT32 HDD format. I know it can be converted to NTFS but have been told by Acer that eRecovery won't work under NTFS and have read about other problems following HDD conversion. Aside from security features, what performance would I lose by leaving the HDD in FAT32 format?

 

According to various sources, the FAT32 file format is a tad bit less speedy, as well as has some primitive characters. See the comparison chart below

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

 

Hello,

Gautam3's post shows exactly how useful ntfs is. All systems formatted with windows 2000/xp using fat32 are very easy to convert to ntfs using the built in converter. Is is so easy when the system is fresh. With the older operating systems, they did not make very efficient converted cluster sizes and the process would involve using walign to actually prepare the clusters pre-ntfs conversion(a much longer process). The convert ntfs conversion process works very well and takes about 5 mins on a new drive. Simply run it for each partition. If you are not exactly sure about the details then its best to find someone who does understand. Did you see the extra info and simple command line regarding the convert utility at http://www.ntfs.com/quest3.htm.

 

Thanks for the info - really helpful. Two quick questions: Can I convert one or two of the three paritions to NTFS using the XP utility or do I have to confvert the full drive? Also, I have read that the drive's 4K clusters have to be aligned before conversion or you wind up with a very inefficient drive. Does the convert command align these clusters?

 

Hello,

1) each partition is converted seperately with the converter.It will restart the pc and do its work with exclusive access.
2) the 4k clusters apply to the older os (pre 2000). Therefore, 2000 and xp use efficient clusters already.
3) walign is the program that is used for fat32 formatted drives that are formatted pre-2000 os. It aligns the clusters(or whatever) to make them efficient.
4) convert does not align, it just converts to ntfs. Thats why its best to use straight away on new drives.
5) ntfs, if you have read in detail, is secure to the point of irritation. If you dont use 2000/xp boot disks(best to always have a modern bootable disk, I suppose) to access the drive in dos( if you ever need to )then you cant read a ntfs partition unless you download a file called ntfs4dos and put onto the bootdisk. Obviously, what acer stated regarding their restore software will not apply to xp's native system restore. If you dont already use it, then ERUNT may be useful to keep a backup of the 'single' copy of the xp registry that xp keeps.(no backup redundancy) Ntfs does rule though, when it comes to file integrity. Have fun.

bye

 

I can't remember *ever* needing a boot disk since about 2002 or so. The Windows 2000/XP recovery console has always worked. Linux has been suitable for copying files off of NTFS devices.