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File system? Which Windows uses what

Created: 09 Jan 2005 ::: Last updated: 22 Feb 2008
Applies to: X Win95   X Win98   X WinMe   X Win 2000/NT   X WinXP   X WinVista   _ MacOS

By Andy Walker

A computer's file system is a the way it sorts files on its hard drive.

On Windows computers, there have been several flavors over time as follows:

1. Windows 95 - Uses FAT, sometimes called FAT16
2. Windows 98 - Uses FAT or the newer FAT32
3. Windows ME - Uses FAT or FAT32
4. Windows NT/2000 - Uses NTFS by default, but also use FAT32
5. Windows XP - Uses NTFS by default, but can also use FAT32
6. Windows Vista - Uses NTFS.

Under Windows XP, there are two possible options. NTFS and FAT32. NTFS is a system from the old Windows NT (and Windows 2000) operating system which was Microsoft's old Windows for business computers.

FAT32 -- used on Windows ME and 98 -- was an evolution of the FAT system used on Windows 95.

To figure out which one you have, double-click the My Computer icon on the desktop and right-click on your C drive. Choose Properties. Look for the File system entry. It'll either say NTFS or FAT32.

In Vista, click Start click Computer right click on the C: drive and choose Propertes. On the General tab you'll see an entry for file system. Microsoft said it would develop a new file system for Vista called WinFS, but the project got postponed. Vista currently uses NTFS.

Looking for an advanced tool to manage your hard disks? Try this disk partition manager and all-in-one disk management software that allows you to recover, copy and edit data. Acronis Disk Director Suite.

Read our article: Reformat, reinstall for Windows FAQs.

This page was printed from www.cyberwalker.com on 22/11/2008
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