NTFS
NTFS is the
preferred file system for all computers running Windows XP
Professional. The version of NTFS that is in use on Windows
XP Professional is called NTFS 5. (Windows 2000 uses version
5 as well.)
If you are
running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later, you can read
basic volumes formatted by using NTFS 5 locally on dual boot
systems.
Windows 2000 and Windows XP Professional can read NTFS 5 on
both basic and dynamic volumes.
(Computers
systems accessing either version of NTFS across networks are
not affected. Version differences are usually only considered in
local / dual boot situations.)
The
following NTFS features are available under version 5:
- File and
Folder Permissions
Encryption- Disk
Quotas - File
Compression - Mounted
Drives - Hard
Links
Distributed Link Tracking- Sparse
Files - Multiple
Data Streams - POSIX
Compliance - NTFS
Change Journal - Indexing
Service
Detailed
information on these features can be found in both the
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Resource Kit Documentation
and
online.
If you are
running Windows XP Professional in a dual boot scenario with
a system running Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 4 or later,
most of the NTFS 5 features are not available. Most read and
write operations are permitted provided they do not attempt
to make use of most NTFS 5 features.
Issues that
may occur under this type of configuration may include some
of the following:
- Windows
NT4 cannot perform any operations that make use of reparse
points - When you
run Windows NT4 on a multiple-boot configuration that also
runs Windows XP Professional, Windows NT4 ignores disk
quotas implemented by Windows XP Professional - Windows
NT4 cannot perform any operations on files encrypted by
Windows XP Professional - Windows
NT4 cannot perform any operations on sparse files - Windows
NT4 ignores the change journal setup under Windows XP
Professional
The NTFS
file system can support drives up to 16 exabytes, in theory,
but because partition tables on basic disks (disks that
include a master boot record) only support partition sizes
up to 2 terabytes, you would need to use dynamic volumes to
create NTFS partitions over 2 terabytes in size.
Windows XP
Professional manages dynamic volumes in a special database
instead of in the partition table, so dynamic volumes are
not subject to the 2-terabyte physical limit imposed by the
partition table. This is why dynamic NTFS volumes can be as
large as the maximum volume size supported by NTFS.