Security Administrator Street Smarts: A Real World Guide to CompTIA Security+™ Skills, Third Edition

Task 4.4: Converting FAT to NTFS

The original Microsoft file system was called FAT (File Allocation Table). Windows NT introduced a more robust and secure file system called NTFS (New Technology File System).

FAT uses a linked list to keep track of the files on the partition, like a table of contents, with entries generally listed in the order the files were added to the partition. FAT supports a few attributes, such as Time Saved, Date Saved, Parent Container, Read Only, Archive, System, Hidden, and Directory (vs. File). Historically, FAT had three possible implementations: FAT12, FAT16, or FAT32. But in early 2008, Microsoft released exFAT with Windows Vista SP1. The exFAT file system is most often used on USB flash drives.

Floppy disks use ...