A new understanding of the advantages of the NTFS file system

Although many readers know the term NTFS, they seem to understand it in detail. For example, some people think that NTFS has poor support for games and its security is embodied in somewhere, that is, it does not seem to feel like using it. This article will give you a satisfactory answer about NTFS.

1. What is a file system and NTFS?

First, you need to clarify your understanding of some mistakes in the file system. There are often such statements: "My hard disk is in FAT32 format", and "drive C is in NTFS format, their mistake is that NTFS or FAT32 is not a format, but a file system. Second, the hard disk you just bought does not have a file system, you must use FDISK or the partition tool of Windows 2000/XP to partition and format the file system. Therefore, the file system is partitioned instead of the hard disk, whether it is dividing a hard disk into one partition or Several partitions.

A hard disk is like an empty space. Files are like different materials. First, we have to create a warehouse (partition) in the open space and specify (format) the Management Specification (file system) of the materials in the warehouse so that the materials can be transported to the warehouse for storage.

Files will not be affected by the file system in the partition, just as car tires may be directly stacked on the ground in warehouse A, while warehouse B will be mounted on the wall, only the placement and management methods are different. Therefore, files in NTFS and FAT32 partitions can be moved in different intervals without any difference.

NTFS is called "NT File System" in English. It means NT File System (see Figure 1 24rntfs01. In "my computer", right-click "properties ", the file system information is displayed in the pop-up window ). It was born with Windows NT July 1996 in 4.0, but it was not until Windows 2000 that it began to be promoted among individual users and entered the ranks of the main partition file systems. Today, Windows XP/2003 and NTFS are already "plastic.

We know that the emergence of the FAT32 file system has obviously improved FAT16, but the improvement of NTFS on FAT32 must be described as "excellent.

The maximum partition limit of NTFS has reached 2 TB (1 TB = 1024 GB). Since its birth, it has gone through multiple versions. The versions in Windows NT4.0 are 1.2, and Windows 2000 is 3.0, windows XP is 3.1. To view the current NTFS version, enter "fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo c:" (C is the partition drive letter) in the command prompt.

Knowledge

Common File Systems

FAT12: A File System Used in MS-DOS 1.0 on IBM's first PC, primarily for floppy disks. This system limits the maximum partition capacity to 16 MB-but this is not a problem because the disk capacity has never reached 16 MB.

FAT16: it is supported by many operating systems and has the best compatibility, but the maximum partition size is 2 GB, and the waste of space is serious. Because the FAT16 file system is a single-user file system, it does not support any security and long file names.

FAT32: developed based on FAT16. With the release of Windows 95 OSR2, it can be supported by most operating systems. FAT32 makes more effective use of hard disk space than FAT16, in addition, the maximum partition size has reached 32 GB, which is suitable for general household use.

ISO9660: CD-ROM file system, but now has extended a lot of new file systems, to make up for some of its shortcomings, such as Juliet.

UDF: a file system that can read and write CDs.

Mac HFS: The file system of the Apple computer, which provides better support for large-capacity disks. However, most Apple computers are still using the FAT32 file system.

Ii. Four advantages of Count NTFS

1. File Systems with error warnings

In the NTFS partition, the first 16 sectors are the Partition Boot sectors, where the Partition Boot Code is stored, followed by the Master File Table (MFT ), however, if the disk sector where the disk is located is damaged, the NTFS file system intelligently switches the MFT to other sectors of the hard disk to ensure the normal use of the file system, this ensures the normal operation of Windows. The previous FAT16 and FAT32 FAT (File Allocation Table) can only be fixed behind the Partition Boot Sector. if the sector is damaged, the entire file system will be paralyzed.

However, this smart mobile MFT approach is of course not perfect. If an error occurs in the part pointing to MFT in the partition guide code, the NTFS file system will not know where to find MFT, in this case, an error message such as "the disk is not formatted" is reported. To avoid this problem, the partition guide code contains a verification program, which is responsible for error detection.

2. File Reading speed is more efficient!

I'm afraid many people have heard that the NTFS file system has many new functions in terms of security, but do you know that NTFS is significantly faster than FAT32 in terms of file processing speed?

Readers who know a little about DOS must be familiar with various attributes of Files: Read-only, hidden, and system. In the NTFS file system, these attributes still exist, but they are quite different. Everything is an attribute, and even the file content is an attribute. The list of these attributes is not fixed and can be added at any time. That is why you see more attributes in the NTFS partition (see Figure 2 24rntfs02 ).

The file attributes in the NTFS file system can be divided into two types: Resident attributes and resident attributes, which are directly stored in MFT, file names and related time information (such as the Creation Time and modification time) always belong to the resident attribute, while the resident attribute is stored outside the MFT, however, a complex index method is used for indication. If a file or folder is smaller than 1500 bytes (in fact, there are quite a few files or folders of this size in our computer), all their attributes, including the content, will be resident in MFT, MFT is loaded into the memory when Windows is started, so that when you view these files or folders, their contents are already in the cache, naturally, the access speed of files and folders is greatly improved.

Tips

Why is FAT less efficient than NTFS?

The file allocation table of the FAT file system can only list the names of each file and the starting cluster. It does not indicate whether the file exists. You need to record the folder where the file is located to determine whether the file exists, the folder entry is included in the index of the file allocation table. Therefore, when accessing a file, you must first read the file allocation table to confirm that the file already exists, then read the file allocation table again to find the first cluster of the file, and then find all the storage clusters of the file through the chain search, you can only access the service after final confirmation.

3. Disk Self-repair function

NTFS uses a self-healing system to automatically detect and fix logical and physical errors on the hard disk. In the FAT16 and FAT32 times, we need to use the Scandisk program to mark bad sectors on the disk. However, when an error is found, the data is often written in Bad Sectors, the loss has been caused.

The NTFS file system does not. During each read/write, it checks whether the sector is correct or not. NTFS reports this error when an error is detected during reading. When an error is found when a file is written to a disk, NTFS intelligently stores data in an intact location without any impact. In both cases, NTFS will mark the bad sector to prevent future use. In this mode, disk errors can be detected earlier to avoid catastrophic accidents.

Some people find that, after converting a disk to an NTFS file system, it is difficult to find a disk error using a disk scan program. After the previous introduction, do you know why?

4. "disaster prevention and relief" Event Log Function

In the NTFS file system, any operation can be considered as an "Event ". For example, copying a file from drive C to drive D is an event. The Event Log constantly monitors the entire operation. When it finds the complete file on the target disk-D, it records the next "completed" mark. If a power failure occurs during the replication process, the event log does not record "completed". NTFS can re-complete the event after a call. The purpose of event logs is not to recover losses, but to supervise all events, so that the system can always know which tasks have been completed and those tasks have not been completed, ensure that the system will not be disordered due to power outages and other emergencies, minimizing the damage.

5. What additional functions do I need?

In fact, NTFS also provides disk compression, data encryption, and disk quota (right-click the partition in "My Computer" and parallel "attribute" to go to the "quota" tab to set it) dynamic Disk management and other functions. These functions are described in many newspapers, magazines, and so on.

NTFS provides different access control, privacy, and security management functions for different users. If your system is in a single-host environment, such as a home computer, these functions do not make much sense to you.

Tips

NTFS converted from FAT has discounts on Performance

If the partition is converted from FAT32 to NTFS file system (the command is "CONVERT drive letter/FS: NTFS"), not only will MFT be prone to disk fragments, but worse, disk fragment tools often cannot sort MFT in each partition, seriously affecting system performance. Therefore, we recommend that you directly format the partition as an NTFS file system.

Ii. Four advantages of Count NTFS

1. File Systems with error warnings

In the NTFS partition, the first 16 sectors are the Partition Boot sectors, where the Partition Boot Code is stored, followed by the Master File Table (MFT ), however, if the disk sector where the disk is located is damaged, the NTFS file system intelligently switches the MFT to other sectors of the hard disk to ensure the normal use of the file system, this ensures the normal operation of Windows. The previous FAT16 and FAT32 FAT (File Allocation Table) can only be fixed behind the Partition Boot Sector. if the sector is damaged, the entire file system will be paralyzed.

However, this smart mobile MFT approach is of course not perfect. If an error occurs in the part pointing to MFT in the partition guide code, the NTFS file system will not know where to find MFT, in this case, an error message such as "the disk is not formatted" is reported. To avoid this problem, the partition guide code contains a verification program, which is responsible for error detection.

2. File Reading speed is more efficient!

I'm afraid many people have heard that the NTFS file system has many new functions in terms of security, but do you know that NTFS is significantly faster than FAT32 in terms of file processing speed?

I am familiar with some readers of DOS.