NTFS or Fat32 for external drive?

[thebigdintx]

I can create a image on my external hdd using 9.0.2289 that seems to create successfully, but it verifies as currupt when I check it. Would it help any if the external hard drive was formatted to FAT32 instead of NTFS which is what it is formatted to now?

[brad99]

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

I can create a image on my external hdd using 9.0.2289 that seems to create successfully, but it verifies as currupt when I check it. Would it help any if the external hard drive was formatted to FAT32 instead of NTFS which is what it is formatted to now?

You better leave it at NTFS, it's the best choice. Basically NTFS is a fail-safe system which is based on a transaction concept.

Read this article about the NTFS file system:
http://www.digit-life.com/articles/ntfs/

[thebigdintx]

why is the secure zone created using FAT32 if NTFS is the better choice?

[brad99]

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

why is the secure zone created using FAT32 if NTFS is the better choice?

I don't know. You can only get the answer from Acronis. I don't use the secure zone. I even didn't know that the secure zone uses FAT32 ?

[backman]

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

why is the secure zone created using FAT32 if NTFS is the better choice?

I think it has to do with the fact that NTFS based systems can still access Win32 data, while Win32 systems cannot access NTFS. They make the secure zone Win32 so that whatever type of file system you use, you can access the data there. I hope I made myself clear there. Anybody else?

[Menorcaman]

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

why is the secure zone created using FAT32 if NTFS is the better choice?

Does Linux read and write to NTFS partitions? I'm no Linux expert but would guess that it allows TI to access the SZ after booting into the Acronis rescue environment (it's Linux based).

Regards

[thebigdintx]

Could we get a reply from Acronis on whether it is better to format external USB hard drives to NTFS, or leave them they way they come ( in FAT32 ) for storing our T.I. images on? Also, if NTFS is the better choice, why is the Secure Zone FAT32?

[bodgy]

What cluster type/ file system to use on your back up drive is one of those 6 of 1 and half a dozen of the other type questions.

FAT32. If all fails is accessable by all MS O/S's and can be mounted by most versions of 'nix and old versions of OS2 (not sure about the latest versions of OS2).

So you have maximum flexibility in getting almost all systems to recognise and read your back up data.

Draw back - FAT32 doesn't support file security, fragments more easily and more messily, at a later stage may have problems reading really large drives sizes.

NTFS Secure file system - doesn't fragment as much as FAT, the MFT (Master File Table) is more robust than FAT and from your XP install CD in console mode, allows rewriting of various boot files.

The SZ would be in FAT32 for the above reason - 'In the unlikely event of absolute melt down ' It is easier to reach your files.

IBM have or certainly had a secure zone type partition, which had the image of the system software instead of providing the purchaser with a system image CD. That was/is a FAT32 partition.

So if your system is always going to be based on Win2K or XP-Pro then NTFS probably isn't so bad a choice, just don't forget any log-on passwords that you may have or you'll be locked out.

Colin

[thebigdintx]

Originally Posted by bodgy

So if your system is always going to be based on Win2K or XP-Pro then NTFS probably isn't so bad a choice

Colin

What about Windows XP home edition.....is NTFS still the better choice for the external hard drive?

[Menorcaman]

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

What about Windows XP home edition.....is NTFS still the better choice for the external hard drive?

Yes, unless you wanted to access the external drive from a Win9X/Me system box. In which case it needs to be FAT32.

Either way, if you are mainly using the external HD for storing images then, if you have non-destructive partition management software, set the cluster size to 32Kb. I find this a good compromise between speed and wasted space.

Regards

[davidkistner]

Originally Posted by Menorcaman

Does Linux read and write to NTFS partitions? I'm no Linux expert but would guess that it allows TI to access the SZ after booting into the Acronis rescue environment (it's Linux based).

Regards

I use Linux (Fedora Core 4) and have an external USB-2 drive formatted in NTFS that I use to backup to with TI-8. You are correct in that I use the Acronis TI rescue disk to boot into, and then I backup to the external drive. I've also backed up this machine to Windows XP machines that have NTFS drives over the network. I lost the hard-drive on this Linux machine once and it really worked pretty slick when I restored the image to the new drive. It saved me days of configuration work. That one "TI restore" was worth the price of the Acronis software and then some (thank you Acronis).

Hope this helps.

- David Kistner

Originally Posted by thebigdintx

What about Windows XP home edition.....is NTFS still the better choice for the external hard drive?

This presents me with a question. I am currently testing the TI9 secure zone operations. When I check the SZ partition it is listed as type BC (neither NTFS or FAT32). What is type BC? How did NTFS/FAT32 get into the secure zone question?

Anyone?

[thebigdintx]

This is the only information I could find from Acronis on file system selection. I found this on the programs help file, but there is no recomendation as to which file system to make the external drives: