Ok. I'll grant you that and there are other applications that you can run (like Partition Magic, Norton Ghost, etc.) that allow you to manage an NTFS partition. Is there anything out there that allows you to actually RUN an application that has been installed an NTFS partition in DOS mode? Not that I'm aware of.

Here's a method of managing a boot partition that's worked extremely well for me for many years ---

I tend to keep my boot partition stripped of all but the essentials. My installed applications/games/MP3s/movies/etc. and anything else I can get away with, I put on an entirely different drive or set of drives (RAID). My boot drive is a Seagate Cheetah 15K RPM UW SCSI drive. It's only 18GB but that's more than big enough for the OS and anything else that installation kits for other programs just can't live without having on C:\ (wherever they put them).

What I've done is created another hidden partition on the Cheetah that I use to back up all the data from the boot partition (the OS, etc.). The total amount of data on the boot partition generally stays at around 4GB or less (less is better) so I've limited the size of my hidden partition to around 5GB (just to be on the safe side).

About once a month (or as often as I make a major change like adding a new set of video/audio drivers or installing a new set of CODECs, maybe updating the OS with a service pack ... whatever) I'll make a backup of the entire boot partition (using Partition Magic Pro) to the hidden partition BEFORE I make those changes. That way I've always got a good, clean running backup of the OS to fall back on if anything goes wrong. If, after a few days of running the new configuration, I'm happy with it and it's still running as well as my backup was, I'll make another backup of the current system configuration. Having a total of nearly 400GB of storage helps a lot since I can make hidden partitions anywhere I like and keep multiple backups based on the date, configuration (fast, stripped down version for benchmarking or gaming, etc.) or whatever suits my needs.

If something DOES go wrong (which HAS happened in the past), all I have to do is delete the boot partition, copy the backup over to it (using Parition Magic Pro), resize it back to it's original size (about 13GB) and I'm back in business inside of 10 minutes. Over about the past 5 years or so I've used this method and have never installed anything I couldn't recover from and have always had at least one clean backup to fall back on. I've used both NTFS and FAT32 and it's made no difference whatsoever. Currently my boot partition is FAT32 but I could use Partition Magic Pro to convert it to NFTS if I wanted to. It makes no difference.

I also run a defragger (Diskeeper) once a week to make sure everything runs smooth and to minimize the effects of degragmented system files (which can be significant if left to their own devices). I schedule the defrag for 2:00AM Sunday night ... which is the only time I leave my system up and running all night. With 300+ watts of Peltiers alone, my electric bill is on the steep side.

I really don't think it matters WHICH file system you use as long as you take precautions against total or even partial failure. There is no substitute for a complete backup of the OS and whether you're burning to DVDs, CDs or to a hidden partition on another drive (or the same drive) doesn't matter either as long as you KEEP that backup up to date.

If you're just adding a new utility program that you can re-download and install at any time, don't worry about a backup. If you're installing a BETA of DirectX or a Windoze service pack, you better seriously consider what that might do to the stability of your system (not to mention your sanity) BEFORE you install it and WISH you'd made a backup (after the fact).

Hind sight is always 20/20 but if you use good judgement, you'll never regret making a backup.

Later,
AL

Do you mean there hardly is a performance difference between your FAT32 RAID array and a single NTFS drive? A RAID array should theoretically be twice as fast as a single drive with the same performance...

If you want to know the ins and outs of FAT32 vs. NTFS performance under WinXP read:
NTFS Preinstallation and Windows XP
(I posted this link in one of my previous posts also)

BTW, I do not recommend FAT32 to NTFS conversion. For full NTFS benefits I recommend a format.

Sysinternals NTFSDOS Professional (free version is read-only)

Sysinternals NTFSDOS

I do have to say you have a nice HDD setup. I also like how you handle your drives for disaster recovery.

What I was elluding to was the "real-world" performance of drives in general. Sure ... I can run benchmarks on the drives and obviously the RAID set is going to smoke the single drive. However, running standard applications from those drives (utilities, programs I use on a daily basis, etc.) you're not going to see or feel (seat of the pants kind of stuff) any real difference in performance.

NTFS does a lot going for it but it's most important "feature" is it's ability to encrypt files and folders to protect sensitive data. Other than private emails, I don't really have anything on my system I'd consider "sensitive data". If I was running a server with a database that contained customer information or proprietary company documents ... then sure. I'd be paranoid about access to those files and would want THE best solution to serve up those documents (along with the security aspects of NTFS/NTFS5). THAT is what NTFS was created for. Not for running games, word processors or browsers from.

As to FAT32 to NTFS conversion, Microsoft themselves make a utility called "convert" that allows you to convert a FAT32 partition to NTFS. There isn't anything unsafe about the process and there is no data loss. A reformat is not necessary ... which is why other software vendors (such as Power Quest) have incorporated the same feature into their products.

If anyone wants ALL the nuts and bolts information on NTFS and is curious what the real differences are between it and FAT, FAT32 and NTFS5, here's the place to look - http://www.ntfs.com/

Thanks to whoever posted the information on NTFSDOS Professional. I hadn't heard of that application before, so today I learned something (not easy for an old dog like me)!! :-)

AL

yes thats true ... my solution to that is that I have one FAT 32 drive ...

C - NTFS win, progs and so on ...
D - FAT storage for all files like MP3, installations, BIOS files and so on all stuff with low disk usage
E - games and other big stuff

so if I really need something in DOS I can get it there ... but as he said ... I nearly never use this exept BIOS updates ...
and since there is True Image and I don't need ghost anymore BIOS Updates are the only reason

Hi guys, I wanted to say thanks for all these great responses. I meant to reply earlier but I forgot, but the main reason I was having problems was with Diskeeper 7.0SE (and up?) You see, after I used this program to defragment my PC, after a while I would get errors that I need to do a CHKDSK /P and sometimes /R.

I saw a post on a different board where a user said the newer versions of Diskeeper where causing him problems. So what I did, I completely unistalled any Diskeeper app installed on my system. I believe it was Diskeeper 7.0SE Professional Build 3.xx

I went back to the original defragger that comes built-in with Windows XP. Yes, that defragger IS Diskeeper, but it's essentialy an old version that I found recently works very flawlessly. It is not as fast as 7.0SE, but it dosen't matter, it is NOT corrupting my HD anymore!

Think twice about using Diskeeper 7.0SE+ - you might run into problems as well... in this case, using newer software is not the best choice (at least not for me).