Chapter 13. The Windows XP File System
What precisely is a file system, and why should you care? A file system defines how the operating system places data on a drive and then reads the data, erases it, and otherwise moves it around. The reason you need to care about the file system is that it affects the performance, reliability, and stability of the operating system as a whole. In addition, the file system can either make your data easy to access or cause damage to it.
Now that you know what a file system is, you probably have other questions. For example, should you use the NT File System (NTFS) or the older and more widely used File Allocation Table (FAT) for your file system on Windows XP? The first answer that many people give is, “Well, ...
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