Windows File Systems - Essay Example

File systems There various file systems that are used by the different versions of Microsoft Windows. These file systems comparesand contrasts in various ways. One of these file system is the FAT32 file system, which was introduced in the 1990s, when the computer hard drives started increasing their size beyond 2GB. This file system was introduced since the earlier file systems could not allow for a hard drive with a size beyond 2GB to be formatted as a single partition (Carrier, 19). Another file system applied by different versions of Microsoft windows is the NTFS file system.

This file system was developed to improve on the features that lacked in the FAT 32 file system. The file system was incorporated with features that would allow for enhancing the stability of the versions of Microsoft windows. FAT is another file system that is used by different versions of Microsoft windows. These file systems compares in that, they can be used with the latest versions of Microsoft windows, which are beyond windows 95A, 3X and 7.1 window versions, which can not apply the earlier file systems of FAT 16 (Mendel, 38).

Another comparison is in the fact that these file systems allows for the formatting of hard drives with a size beyond 2GB as a single partition. Further, a comparison of these file system is in the fact that they help in avoiding the loss of hard disk space, in form of slack. A feature that these file systems possess in common is that they are all compatible with the windows XP version of Microsoft windows (Carrier, 22). However, there is a contrast among theses file systems. To start with, while the FAT file system can be used with all versions of the Microsoft windows, it is not the case for the FAT 32 and the NFTS file systems.

FAT 32-file system is limited to few versions of these windows such as windows95, windows 98, windows XP, and windows 2000. On the other hand, NFTS file system is limited to application with some versions of Microsoft windows such as windows XP, windows 2000 and windows 4NT, while applied with service pack 4 (Mendel, 54). Another contrast as depicted by theses file systems is that, the NFTS file system is more powerful as compared to the other two file systems, and contains with it features that enables it to host active directory, while at the same time possessing security features that are domain based (Carrier, 36).

Another contrast is that, while NFTS file system allows for the creation of limited access accounts, which limits the files and the folders that some individuals can access in a computer, the other file systems allows an access to all file s and folders. Thus, regardless of whether the access account used by such individuals is meant to restrict them from accessing certain files and folders, the file systems FAT and FAT 32 will still allow such access (Mendel, 60). A major contrast is in the fact that NFTS works for larger disk drives, followed by the FAT 32 and the FAT file system for the smaller drives.

Works CitedCarrier, Brian. File System Forensic Analysis. Addison-Wesley, 2002. 18-43. Print.Mendel, Rosenblum. The Design and Implementation of a Log-Structured File System. Springer, 1994. 36-68. Print.