Bits'n'Bytes

As heard on CJCD

Episode 17

Last week I mentioned a couple of programs that were dependent on which file system you have on your computer. So, the question today is what's the difference? 'K, here's a really quick overview on file systems.

The original file system was called FAT16, or just FAT. FAT stands for File Allocation Table. If you remember from one of the previous shows that the registry in your computer is like a phone book for your operating system, the file allocation table is like a phone book for your hard drive. It lets the computer know where on the drive stuff is stored.

Now, the problem with FAT16, is that it can only have a limited number of storage spaces and each storage space is a fixed size. So if you have a program that's really small, or just slightly over the size of one storage space, you end up wasting a lot of space on your hard drive.

So, Microsoft created the FAT32 file system. This was basically an extension of FAT16 that had a lot more storage spaces and each storage space was a little smaller. So, if you were just over a round number of storage spaces, you weren't wasting quite as much space. Plus, with the huge number of spaces, you could store more data than ever. The only limits were due to limitations of the operating system and the computer's basic input output system, or BIOS.

Then, along came the NTFS, or the New Technology File System. This file system was completely different from the versions of FAT. So different, actually, that any computer running on a FAT based system couldn't even read any of the data on an NTFS drive. NTFS had even smaller storage spaces, so even less space was wasted. It had a better addressing structure, so it could store more data and it allowed security features like encryption and password protection. But, the best feature was the way it ran programs, because it kept the running programs separate from the operating system. That way, if a buggy program crashed, you didn't have to reboot the computer every time - saving users a lot of their time.

Stay tuned next week for more information on viruses and other malware.

I’m Computer Dave, thanks for your time.