Practical Tips for Choosing FAT vs. NTFS

Choosing between FAT and NTFS file systems can be challenging, but with practical hints and insights, it becomes easier. In this article, we unlock the choice by providing practical tips and guidance for deciding between FAT and NTFS. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced user, these practical hints will help you make the right decision for your storage needs. Read to unlock the choice between FAT and NTFS!

Practical Tips for Choosing FAT vs. NTFS

Recent versions of Windows (since Windows XP) will not allow you to format a system drive with anything but NTFS, for obvious reasons.

Where to Use NTFS

Use NTFS on internal hard drives no matter how large or small. In the long term, you’ll appreciate the increased reliability and dependability of data storage provided by NTFS.

While this may sound to the contrary of what’s been said about NTFS putting increased write load and reducing effective lifespan of solid-state media, I can still recommend using NTFS on recent SSD drives for important security reasons. Modern SSD drives have improved their write performance and the number of sustainable write cycles greatly compared to SSD’s of yesteryears, so in a trade-off between added security and durability of the file system against increased wearing of SSD memory cells you’ll be getting more of the positive side and less of the negative. And if you’re using an SSD drive as your system boot disk, you’ll simply have no other choice, at least for the boot volume that keeps Windows itself.

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Where to Use FAT

Use FAT on portable media you’re likely to use in different devices. Remember, practically no digital cameras, MP3 players, smartphones and tablets except those manufactured or licensed by Microsoft will recognize NTFS-formatted volumes. Such manufacturers of memory cards as Transcend and Kingston use the FAT file system as the basic one.

So, for anything that goes into a digital camera, portable audio player, smartphone, tablet or other portable device you will want to use FAT, most probably in its FAT32 incarnation due to the large capacity of today’s portable storage media.

For USB flash drives, the choice is a little less obvious. Their larger capacities and higher speeds may effectively hide the increased space and traffic consumption of the newer file system, bringing the obvious benefits back to the table. If you’re about to use that USB drive with Windows computers only, you can consider going the NTFS way. If there’s slightest doubt, format it with FAT32 and you’ll be good.

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Reliability of File Systems

FAT is notorious for its low durability and reliability, especially on larger volumes and especially under high load with many concurrent writes. However, low-use, low capacity devices such as most consumer memory cards and USB flash drives can be safely formatted with a variation of the FAT file system. They’ll be used sparingly, and there is very little chance you’ll ever have a concurrent write operation performed on a USB drive or memory card (and even if you do, it’s OK every once in a while). Finally, many memory cards and USB drives are reformatted often as this is usually much faster than simply deleting a bunch of files and folders.

NTFS offers extra reliability and durability due to its use of journaling for every write operation. In a word, NTFS is a transaction-based file system that will log its every step, allowing the system to roll back any interrupted or unsuccessful write operation without causing havoc in the rest of the file system. In addition to that, NTFS maintains a spare copy of the file system somewhere in the middle of the disk, allowing data recovery tools referring to two copies of the most important system records instead of a single one.

In the same situation, FAT will behave completely unpredictably. You can be lucky, or you can get an unreadable partition after a reboot, empty folders and corrupted files.

File System Main Characteristics Support for File Permissions Maximum Disk Size Maximum File Size Speed Stability
FAT (FAT16, FAT32)
  • Older file system
  • Supports 512-byte sectors
  • Simple structure, low computational resource requirements
 Limited support for file permissions (FAT16 – limited, FAT32 – no support) Up to 2 TB (FAT32) Up to 4 GB (FAT32) High Stable
NTFS
  • Modern file system
  • Supports 512-byte and 4 KB sectors
  • Rich features including support for file permissions
 Support for file permissions Up to 16 EB Up to 16 TB Lower compared to FAT High

Recovering Files from FAT and NTFS

Whether you format a volume with FAT or NTFS, there are tools to recover the files – even if the file system itself is badly damaged or completely missing (e.g. after the disk being repartitioned or reformatted). Within Hetman’s product range there are several tools you can use to recover files from FAT or NTFS-formatted drives.

Partition Recovery™ 5.0
The tool recovers data from any devices, regardless of the cause of data loss.
Download

However, you may still be forced to use Partition Recovery tool if you have a heterogeneous mix of devices and file systems to restore, or if you reformatted a FAT drive with NTFS or vice versa. Either way, you are getting a first-class data recovery tool that can gracefully handle most data loss situations.

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Oleg Afonin

Author: , Technical Writer

Oleg Afonin is an expert in mobile forensics, data recovery and computer systems. He often attends large data security conferences, and writes several blogs for such resources as xaker.ru, Elcomsoft and Habr. In addition to his online activities, Oleg’s articles are also published in professional magazines. Also, Oleg Afonin is the co-author of a well-known book, Mobile Forensics - Advanced Investigative Strategies.

Vladimir Artiukh

Editor: , Technical Writer

Vladimir Artiukh is a technical writer for Hetman Software, as well as the voice and face of their English-speaking YouTube channel, Hetman Software: Data Recovery for Windows. He handles tutorials, how-tos, and detailed reviews on how the company’s tools work with all kinds of data storage devices.

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Questions and answers

  • What is the difference between FAT and NTFS file systems?

    FAT (File Allocation Table) is an older file system that was created in the 1980s and is used for storing and retrieving files on storage devices such as hard disks. It supports small partitions and is less secure than other file systems. NTFS (New Technology File System) is a newer file system that was created in the 1990s and is used for storing and retrieving files on storage devices such as hard disks. It supports large partitions and is more secure than other file systems. It also supports features such as disk quotas, file encryption, disk compression, and disk security.

  • What are the advantages of using the NTFS file system over FAT?
    • Increased security: NTFS provides more robust security features, such as file-level permissions and encryption, than FAT.
    • Increased scalability: NTFS can support larger volumes and more files than FAT.
    • Improved performance: NTFS provides faster access to files due to its advanced disk management features, such as disk defragmentation and disk caching.
    • Improved reliability: NTFS is more reliable than FAT, since it uses journaling to track changes to the file system.
    • Better compatibility: NTFS is more compatible with other operating systems, such as Linux and Mac OS X, than FAT.
  • What are the disadvantages of using the NTFS file system over FAT?
    • NTFS is more complex than FAT and requires more system resources to maintain and manage.
    • NTFS is not compatible with older operating systems, such as Windows 95 and Windows 98.
    • NTFS does not support disk quotas, which can be used to limit the amount of disk space a user can use.
    • NTFS does not support long file names, which can be used to make files easier to identify.
    • NTFS does not support compressed files, which can be used to reduce the amount of disk space used.
  • How do I know which file system my drive is formatted in?

    You can determine the file system of a drive by using the Disk Management utility in Windows or the Disk Utility in macOS. In Windows, right-click on the Start button and select Disk Management. In macOS, open Finder and select Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Select the drive you want to check and view the file system listed under the Format column.

  • Can I convert a drive from FAT to NTFS without losing data?

    Yes, you can convert a drive from FAT to NTFS without losing data. To do this, you need to use a third-party utility such as EaseUS Partition Master or MiniTool Partition Wizard. These tools will allow you to convert the drive without having to reformat it.

Comments (12)

  • Hetman Software: Data Recovery
    Hetman Software: Data Recovery 27.04.2018 10:32 #
    Read practical hints on choosing between FAT and NTFS. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our technical support service - we will be happy to help you.
    Reply
  • Clayton Murrills
    Clayton Murrills 16.10.2012 03:06 #
    How can I optimize the performance of my drive when using either FAT or NTFS?
    Reply
    • Hetman Software
      Hetman Software 16.10.2012 03:41 #
      • Defragment your drive regularly.
      • Enable write caching on your drive.
      • Disable unnecessary services and programs that may be running in the background.
      • Make sure you have enough free space on your drive.
      • Disable the indexing service, if not required.
      • Disable 8.3 filenames if not needed.
      • Disable last access timestamp updates, if not needed.
      • Enable file compression, if needed.
      • Use a larger cluster size for larger files.
      • Use a smaller cluster size for smaller files.
      Reply
  • Oscar Upchurch
    Oscar Upchurch 15.10.2012 23:00 #
    Are there any compatibility issues with using FAT or NTFS on different operating systems?
    Reply
    • Hetman Software
      Hetman Software 15.10.2012 23:28 #
      Yes, there are compatibility issues with using FAT or NTFS on different operating systems. FAT and NTFS are both proprietary file systems developed by Microsoft and are not compatible with other operating systems. While some operating systems may be able to read or write to a FAT or NTFS drive, they may not be able to access all of the features of the file system. For example, Windows cannot access features of the NTFS file system that are exclusive to Mac OS X.
      Reply
  • Giovanni Clutterbuck
    Giovanni Clutterbuck 15.10.2012 18:47 #
    Which file system is more suitable for use with external drives?
    Reply
    • Hetman Software
      Hetman Software 15.10.2012 19:22 #
      NTFS (New Technology File System) is the most suitable file system for use with external drives. NTFS is a more secure file system than FAT32, and it also supports larger file sizes and more robust security features.
      Reply
  • Clinton Bowers
    Clinton Bowers 15.10.2012 16:35 #
    Is there a maximum file size limit for FAT and NTFS file systems?
    Reply
    • Hetman Software
      Hetman Software 15.10.2012 17:08 #
      Yes, there is a maximum file size limit for both FAT and NTFS file systems. For FAT file systems, the maximum file size is 4GB, while for NTFS, the maximum file size is 16TB.
      Reply
  • Jay Coates
    Jay Coates 15.10.2012 13:28 #
    What factors should I consider when choosing between FAT and NTFS for a new drive?
    Reply
    • Hetman Software
      Hetman Software 15.10.2012 14:02 #
      • Compatibility: FAT is compatible with all versions of Windows, while NTFS is only compatible with Windows NT and later versions.
      • Security: NTFS offers much more robust security features than FAT, including encryption and user-level access control.
      • Performance: NTFS generally offers better performance than FAT, especially when dealing with large files or large numbers of files.
      • File size limits: FAT has a file size limit of 4GB, while NTFS has no such limit.
      • Cost: NTFS requires a license fee for commercial use, while FAT is free.
      Reply
  • Hetman Software: Data Recovery
    Hetman Software: Data Recovery 27.04.2018 10:34 #
    Read about practical hints on choosing between FAT and NTFS. If you do have any questions, don't hesitate to contact our technical support service - we will be happy to help you.
    Reply
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