This module provides short descriptions of the file allocation table (FAT) and NT file system (NTFS).
FAT and FAT32 are file systems that are defined as follows:
FAT A file system used by MS-DOS®, Microsoft® Windows® 3.x, Windows 95, and Windows 98. Windows NT® and Windows 2000 also can use the FAT file system. The operating system maintains a table to keep track of the status of various segments of disk space used for file storage.
FAT32 A derivative of the file allocation table (FAT) file system. FAT32 supports smaller cluster sizes than FAT, thus providing more efficient space allocation on FAT32 drives. FAT32 is designed for larger disks than FAT.
NTFS An advanced file system designed for use specifically within the Windows NT operating system. It supports file system recovery, extremely large storage media, long file names, and various features for the POSIX subsystem. It also supports object-oriented applications by treating all files as objects with user-defined and system-defined attributes. NTFS is also called Windows NT file system.