NTFS or FAT32?

Calistoga

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My Windows partition was 120 GB, and after much research I selected NTFS instead of FAT32. I think I made the correct decision, but I am curious to hear from others on this issue.

I've been using my Intel iMac for over a year without any problems other than not being able to install Windows XP SP3.
 
chscag

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You really didn't have a choice! BC will not create a FAT-32 partition over 32 Gb. BTW, this is not an OS X limitation but one that was imposed by Microsoft.

Why do you need such a large Windows partition anyway?

Regards.
 
Arekisu

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chscag said:
You really didn't have a choice! BC will not create a FAT-32 partition over 32 Gb. BTW, this is not an OS X limitation but one that was imposed by Microsoft.

Why do you need such a large Windows partition anyway?

Regards.
Click to expand...

That's odd because one of my external hard drives is FAT-32 and is 200Gb. Had to use FAT-32 as it's used to transfer stuff between my MacBook and my PC.

I thought the only limitation was the 4Gb file size.
 
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Calistoga

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chscag said:
You really didn't have a choice! BC will not create a FAT-32 partition over 32 Gb. BTW, this is not an OS X limitation but one that was imposed by Microsoft.

Why do you need such a large Windows partition anyway?

Regards.
Click to expand...
My recollection was that you had to select NTFS if the partition was over 32 GB. I thought you could use NTFS or FAT-32 for anything over the 32 GB partition. This was over a year ago, so my memory may be a little fuzzy. Unless I check back and take a look at my notes. For Windows, NTFS is a better file format than FAT-32 because it is more stable.

I don't think 120 GB is a large partition. I am coming from the Windows world starting with Windows 3.0. I need to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking because I can no longer use the keyboard. MacSpeech Dictate is almost as accurate as Dragon, but it is lacking in commands. With Dragon I can surf the Net hands free, and this is not possible with MacSpeech Dictate at this time. If MacSpeech Dictate can catch up to Dragon, I will probably make my Windows partition smaller.

I think Microsoft with Windows 7 may make a serious attempt at speech recognition. I do not get this sense from Apple. Sorry if I went a bit off topic.
 
chscag

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You're recollection was correct, BC will default to NTFS for two reasons:

1. Create a partition 32 Gb or larger.
2. You install Vista. (Vista will not install to a FAT-32 partition)

I was curious why you needed such a large Windows partition. I know some Windows games (FS for example) take a huge amount of disk space, but did not realize that voice synthesizer software likewise did the same. It's OK as long as you left enough space on the OS X side. :)

We'll have to wait and see what MS does with Windows 7. You can pick up on some of what's included by reading various first look articles on the web. It should be released for public beta sometime before Spring or early Spring this year according to the rumor mill.

To Arekisu:

There is no FAT-32 format limit imposed by third party software such as Paragon or Partition Magic. The limits are Microsoft's who wish everyone to use their proprietary NTFS file system. However, Boot Camp follows the MS limit and will not format a partition over 32 Gb to anything but NTFS.

Disk Utility will very nicely format a large external hard drive to FAT-32 or HFS +. Nowadays most large external drives being sold are formatted to NTFS rather than FAT-32. You are correct in that the FAT-32 file size limit is 4 Gb.

Regards.
 
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Calistoga

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chscag said:
You're recollection was correct, BC will default to NTFS for two reasons:

1. Create a partition 32 Gb or larger.
2. You install Vista. (Vista will not install to a FAT-32 partition)

I was curious why you needed such a large Windows partition. I know some Windows games (FS for example) take a huge amount of disk space, but did not realize that voice synthesizer software likewise did the same. It's OK as long as you left enough space on the OS X side. :)

We'll have to wait and see what MS does with Windows 7. You can pick up on some of what's included by reading various first look articles on the web. It should be released for public beta sometime before Spring or early Spring this year according to the rumor mill.
Click to expand...
I left enough space on the OS X side. The odd thing is I remember the hard drive being 320 GB and I gave 200 GB for the Mac. It is my understanding that the beta version of Windows 7, has all the features or is pretty much a finished product.

Picture1-6.png
 
wesanderson76

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This may be a little bit of a subject hop. Once I have WIN XP running in Boot camp I cannot get drivers for anything! Also, whwen i try to install service pack 3 it tells me i need 4 more MB of space when there is allready plenty!
Any thoughts?
thanks -
Wes
 
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Calistoga

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wesanderson76 said:
This may be a little bit of a subject hop. Once I have WIN XP running in Boot camp I cannot get drivers for anything! Also, whwen i try to install service pack 3 it tells me i need 4 more MB of space when there is allready plenty!
Any thoughts?
thanks -
Wes
Click to expand...
Take a look at this thread for more info on this topic. There are just some computers that windows XP SP3 will not install on. And Microsoft has no plans on fixing SP3. This'll be the last service pack for Windows XP.

Security Now Transcripts with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte
Leo: Burt in Redford, Michigan keeps wanting to install the ill-fated Windows Service Pack 3. This is for Windows XP. Thank you for supplying a venue that allows the common Joe - Joe the hacker - to get an answer to a question no one else seems to have an answer for. I brag about you all the time. Question: What is going on with Windows XP SP3? Like you, I have attempted to install it, in my case on different systems. They both bombed. I had to back out of the update. Can you mention what Microsoft is or is not doing to make this usable, even if no news is available? I feel like my systems are vulnerable without this update, but I'm helpless. I can't do anything about it.

Steve: Yes. I've looked around. I can't find any indication from Microsoft that they're going to address this. This is the last service pack for XP. There's not going to be a Service Pack 4, unless maybe they do one to fix the problem with Service Pack 3. But I'm in the same condition that Burt is. There are several machines I have where I cannot put SP3 on. The good news is that you really don't need it. You can keep current with the patches. All SP3 was was sort of a catch-up, an omnibus package that did all of the prior updates bundled in one.

Leo: Yeah. I wonder what's going on. I've been able to install Service Pack 3 on all my machines. Well, I only have one XP machine, but - no, two. I have two XP machines, and both are running SP3. But I do get this call a lot on the radio show. And there's no - doesn't seem to be any answer. It's just...

Steve: And Microsoft never, like, fixes broken service packs. They just sort of limp along and then replace it ultimately. But this one, as far as I know, is not going to be replaced.

Leo: Remember Service Pack 2 was even worse. At least it seems in most cases with Service Pack 3 it doesn't - Service Pack 2 would just give you a Blue Screen of Death, permanent Blue Screen of Death. You'd be out of luck. At least with Service Pack 3 you can roll back. But he's right, he needs the update for security reasons; right?

Steve: Well, no. I mean, Microsoft has moved forward. And so you need to say no, I do not want SP3. But then there's still...

Leo: Oh, and then - okay.

Steve: Yeah, you don't need Service Pack 3. You can still install all the other incremental updates moving forward.

Leo: I get it. Okay. So you'll be as secure.

Steve: Yes, you will.
Click to expand...
 
wesanderson76

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F**k It

IM just gonnna go back to Paralelles!
I just cannot seem to get any drivers for the Boot Camp Alternative to work.
 
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Calistoga

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wesanderson76 said:
IM just gonnna go back to Paralelles!
I just cannot seem to get any drivers for the Boot Camp Alternative to work.
Click to expand...
I would suggest you start a new thread regarding drivers and BC. Windows XP SP3 is another topic.
 

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