fat32 or NTFS for streaming large tracks?

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 12:49 pm

I've just been organising my notebook's internal HD with one partition for real time DJ style mixing of full length tracks off one partition and my studio/projects on another, then I just noticed that the one I've chosen for full tracks is fat32 and the projects one is NTFS - I have a feeling that it should be the other way round but it would be a pain in the arse to swap them over - so do I need to? Does it make that much difference?

I have 1GB ram so I'm assuming as I play a track it will load into RAM any way - is that right or will it only do that if I select "RAM" (problem being if I select all samples in a large set full of full tracks and select "ram" on them then it pre-loads them so my PC freaks out because I dont have enough ram for 50 x 7 minute WAVS )

blastique · Post by **blastique** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:04 pm

I'd recommend NTFS for all uses. It has been proven to fragment less and perform more efficiently. You also get the added benefit of selective folder compression and security.

I'll try and dig up the references to the claim, but it IS a superior file system to FAT32 and initial claims of it being slower have been apparently put to rest.

However, if you're thinking about converting a currently-fat32 partition to NTFS, do not use the windows xp built in conversion tool. It will convert to NTFS, yes, but with ridiculously small cluster sizes which WILL cause a performance hit.

Look into options such as Powerquest Partition Magic 8.

forge · Post by **forge** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:07 pm

thanks

but if that's an *ideal world* scenario, do I really NEED TO convert it after I've just spent a whole night sorting everything out? Is DJing with a FAT32 partition on a 7200rpm drive really going to give me problems?

blastique · Post by **blastique** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 1:31 pm

No, you don't need to. But lets say that something goes wonky with the file system. I don't know, say a usb cable fell out during a write operation, blah blah blah, NTFS would have a better chance at repairing the data. I can safely say that any file system related problems I used to have from using FAT32 disappeared when I switched to NTFS completely.

So, the benefit for me would be added peace of mind

Anyhow, Conversion is a relatively snappy and safe process with partition magic.

mikHATz · Post by **mikHATz** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 7:53 pm

blastique wrote:No, you don't need to. But lets say that something goes wonky with the file system. I don't know, say a usb cable fell out during a write operation, blah blah blah, NTFS would have a better chance at repairing the data. I can safely say that any file system related problems I used to have from using FAT32 disappeared when I switched to NTFS completely.

So, the benefit for me would be added peace of mind

Anyhow, Conversion is a relatively snappy and safe process with partition magic.

yah,

XPmusic.net wrote:The bottom line is that if you are only running Windows XP on your computer, then you should consider using NTFS on all of your discs, as NTFS is the native file system for XP and 2000. NTFS is self repairing and much less susceptible to data corruption, which makes CHKDSK a thing of the past - even with improper shutdowns.

However, if you are dual-booting and have Windows 9x in addition toWindows XP, then you will need to use FAT32 or a combination of FAT32 and NTFS, i.e. so that all operating systems can see all discs (only 2000 and XP are compatible with NTFS).

Another situation where NTFS is better than FAT32 is with larger discs (>32GB). FAT performance tends to decrease with larger discs, whilst NTFS is more consistent. Fragmentation of the disc is also reduced when using NTFS as the XP operating system tries to keep files contiguous.

MIK

nebulae · Post by **nebulae** » Fri Mar 31, 2006 11:09 pm

I format my drives as such:

Drive 1:
c: NTFS, regular file allocation, around 20gb partition for all programs
d: NTFS, smallest cluster size, storing all my samples, Live Library, installer files, loops, data files. I also keep a Ghost image on this partition.

Drive 2:
r: NTFS, largest cluster size, usually 64kb. This is where I record my audio and keep current projects. The large cluster size helps for larger audio files. I also partition this to about half of the drive so that I can control the fact that the files go to front of the drive, which has smaller seek times, and therefore better performance.
s: NTFS, regular cluster size, used mainly to store older projects and other files that I don't use regularly, but would like to have around...say a set of projects or files that will eventually create an album or a compilation.