FAT32 or NTFS?

[Richard]

Hi, I have a 120gb hard drive partitioned in half on XP using FAT32. Defragging a partition takes about 24 hours or more (maybe cause I'm too lazy to defrag often). I'm wondering if I convert it to NTFS will the defragging take a much shorter time? Thanks.

 

[Apokalipse]

NTFS tries to keep files contiguous, so fragmentation doesn't occur as much, although it still does happen.
it just depends on how fragmented it becomes, and the amount of files on there

 

[techy]

I'm wondering if I convert it to NTFS will the defragging take a much shorter time?

Yes absulitly. Try partisioning your hard drive.one for your OS and some more for other files like movies,audio. becouse when you defragmanting your OS partision it takes less time.

 

[Apokalipse]

that doesn't really answer his question. he was asking about NTFS against FAT32.
although it can work, however you'd have to delete the current partition to do it. then you would lose all your data, unless you back it up.

and some people prefer to have everything on one drive, because it is easier to run. you don't have to select a different partition all the time when installing things. and some programs can get confused.

 

[Richard]

I guess I need to be more specific... I have XP on a different hard drive and the other hard drive contains games and applications. The partitioning is already done and isn't a concern. So my options are convert the apps/games hard drive to NTFS or leave it as FAT32. What are the pros and cons of converting it to NTFS?

 

[Apokalipse]

pros:
less chance of files getting corrupted
files don't get fragmented as much
faster

cons:
doesn't work on older OS's. but they can access them through a network, as it goes through the OS

 

[Richard]

sounds good, I'll convert later tonight