Differences between FAT32 and NTFS

eric21120

Can someone clarify me about the differences and similarites of the two file systems: FAT32 and NTFS.

What we can do, and what we can not do with each of them.

thank you

vex

Advantages of NTFS over FAT32:

With NTFS, individual files and folders can have assigned Access Rights, enabling the user to have greater control over the security in the system.
NTFS supports data compression and encryption for files and folders, allowing the user to save space on his hard drive and keep his files more secure.
The largest file that can be saved using FAT32 is 4 Gigabytes. With NTFS there is no such limit.
On large drives with many files, the performance of a FAT32 drive suffers. NTFS drives do not have a problem handling many files.

Advantages for FAT32 over NTFS:

There are times when it is preferable to format your drive using FAT32. Since a drive formatted in NTFS is not accessible from DOS ,Windows 9x/ME or Mac OS , (which are compatible or use FAT32, ) you would need to format the drive in FAT32 in order to gain access to the drive ( it from Windows 9x/ME. ) This is often the case when dual-booting Windows 98 and Windows 2000 or sharing an external drive between a Windows system or Mac .