The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    WINXP Bootcamp Partition: NTFS or FAT32

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by chen, Nov 30, 2008.

  1. chen

    chen Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    224
    Messages:
    741
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    FAT32 is more compatible with HTFS+ but cannot hold a single file greater than 4GB.
    NTFS is more reliable and secure but not compatible with the HTFS+ volume unless you have the software.

    Question is, what format you guys use for the WINXP bootcamp partition?
     
    chen, Nov 30, 2008
    #1
  2. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

    Reputations:
    1,253
    Messages:
    2,086
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Use NFTS, as it is more stable, reliable, and secure as you said. FAT32 is rapidly declining in terms of popularity, and NFTS is supported more. Hope that helps!
     
    Colton, Nov 30, 2008
    #2
  3. chen

    chen Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    224
    Messages:
    741
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Thanks, but I am taking a poll to see the popularity of the partitions among NBR people who use mac, so you could also help by voting.
     
    chen, Nov 30, 2008
    #3
  4. sulkorp

    sulkorp Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    145
    Messages:
    1,192
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I personally have a fat32 bootcamp partition, but thats because at the time I didnt have the software to write to ntfs in OSX, and I just havn't bothered changing it.

    If i were to do it again, id do it ntfs, and just use ntfs3g, or paragon.

    Makes life a lot easier.
     
    sulkorp, Nov 30, 2008
    #4
  5. cdnalsi

    cdnalsi Food for the funky people

    Reputations:
    433
    Messages:
    1,605
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    NTFS all the way. Especially for gaming.

    Just use Macdrive if you want to see the OS X partition from Windows, and NTFS 3G (or whatever it's called) to write on the Windows partition from OS X.
     
    cdnalsi, Nov 30, 2008
    #5
  6. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

    Reputations:
    1,253
    Messages:
    2,086
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    NTFS FTW! :p
     
    Colton, Nov 30, 2008
    #6
  7. ImprezaSTi

    ImprezaSTi Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    49
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Macdrive FTW.
     
    ImprezaSTi, Nov 30, 2008
    #7
  8. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

    Reputations:
    565
    Messages:
    2,530
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    NTFS, since I have Fusion which allows for easy drag-n-drop of files between the two partitions, although this means Windows has to be running virtually to allow the transfers, oh well.
     
    dbam987, Dec 1, 2008
    #8
  9. Seshan

    Seshan Rawrrr!

    Reputations:
    540
    Messages:
    1,989
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Fat32 because I was stupid.
     
    Seshan, Dec 1, 2008
    #9
  10. chen

    chen Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    224
    Messages:
    741
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Yea, NTFS partition with Paragon on OS X and Macdrive on Windows. Definitely agree it is better for gaming and when you need to create DVD disk image that is larger than 4GB.
     
    chen, Dec 1, 2008
    #10
  11. Colton

    Colton Also Proudly American

    Reputations:
    1,253
    Messages:
    2,086
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Yeah especially when you have a Gazillion GB Vista.ISO file... :D :p
     
    Colton, Dec 1, 2008
    #11
  12. circa86

    circa86 Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    685
    Messages:
    2,463
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    as far as I see it the only thing people should be using Windows for is playing games made by Valve, so NTFS all the way.
     
    circa86, Dec 1, 2008
    #12
  13. sheldon77

    sheldon77 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    31
    Messages:
    454
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    are there any performance increases for using NTFS over FAT32? i only have a 18gb xp partition and have no 4gb+ files to deal with. although im considered changing things up and giving xp a bit more again because gta iv is going to be a pretty massive install, is there any advantage for me to go NTFS?
     
    sheldon77, Dec 2, 2008
    #13
  14. dbam987

    dbam987 wicked-poster

    Reputations:
    565
    Messages:
    2,530
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    56
    dbam987, Dec 2, 2008
    #14
  15. pacmandelight

    pacmandelight Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    260
    Messages:
    909
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    NTFS is more robust than FAT32. FAT32 is faster for smaller partitions, where as NTFS is better for larger partitions.

    I would get an external NAS for storing videos, music, etc. :)
     
    pacmandelight, Dec 2, 2008
    #15