probably a dumb NTFS question....

[Monaco]

I just need some backup on this one. After reading the Tech Report's (http://www.tech-report.com) excellent article on WinME vs XP vs W2K, I'm
ready to switch my main box over to W2K. Finally.

I've been waiting until I beat a few games top do it, now I'm just gonna say screw it and go for it. My question is- if I copy files (like game saves) over from their current Win98SE box, to a Win98 box for storage, then to the new W2K NTFS box, will those files still be readable?

The way I look at it, NTFS changes the way data is stored on a drive, not the data itself? Is that right? Will my win98 and win3.11 boxes still be able to read and access files on the new NTFS box via LAN?

[UnseenMenace]

Win2000 is capable of reading FAT drives however Win 98 and Win 3.11 can NOT read or use NTFS drives and as such will not recognize the new box

[Monaco]

a-HA! so I'm not nuts. Ok, so- there is NO way of getting a non-NTFS-aware OS to read files over a network on an NTFS drive? What about removable media, CD and floppies? Are those now in NTFS as well?

Does that mean that all the servers on the internet I download stuff from are on a FAT derivative? I don't doubt you, I just want to know if there is a way around this limitation- I need all machines to speak to all the other machines here.

Thanks for the input-

[UnseenMenace]

Originally posted by Monster of Rock
a-HA! so I'm not nuts. Ok, so- there is NO way of getting a non-NTFS-aware OS to read files over a network on an NTFS drive? What about removable media, CD and floppies? Are those now in NTFS as well?

Does that mean that all the servers on the internet I download stuff from are on a FAT derivative? I don't doubt you, I just want to know if there is a way around this limitation- I need all machines to speak to all the other machines here.

Thanks for the input-

The machines you download from on the internet only interpret internet protocols and requests and as such can be linux boxes, unix machines, Win box's or anything else.

The main advantages of NTFS is that it does not fragment as much as FAT drives and features better security, however Win2000 can run on a FAT drive quite happily and this is something you should consider as an easy way to solve the problem you have

[Monaco]

ok, I'm starting to get it!:) I was apparently making some incorrect assumptions about NTFS...there is a bigger difference to it than just putting it on the disc in a different manner I guess.

I need to be using NTFS- my boss tells me he wants W2K on all boxes at work, so now I have to learn it and all the cool file permission stuff as soon as I can. So I can't just use W2K on FAT32, unfortunately-

I assume CDs use their own universal format for data, right? So a data CD from a burner in a W2K box will be readable in a Win98 box, I hope.

Ah, I forgot all about protocols! <slaps self on forehead> I should be able to set up an FTP gateway of some sort to enable cross-filesystem share if really neccessary. Or is there some sort of translation software I can use?

If I can move data between the Macs and PCs at school, I should be able to figure out a way to do it between 2 PCs. :)

I hope! thanks for the advice.