Windows 2000 Filesystems

Windows 2000 systems can support the following file systems:
-FAT, FAT32
-NTFS - New Technology File System
-CDFS - Compact Disk File System
-UDF - Universal Disk Format for DVDs.
-EFS - Encrypting File System runs as a service and is used to encrypt and decrypt files on an NTFS file system for security purposes. The EFS is not a file system like NTFS since it does not create partitions and control the placement of file data, it only is used to control the encryption of data. See the Section called "Security" in this document for more information on NFS.
FAT Filesystem Characteristics
Used with DOS, it can only support partitions up to 4 G. No spaces are allowed in the file name.
FAT32 or VFAT Filesystem Characteristics
VFAT - Virtual File Allocation Table introduced by Windows 95 which allows long file names. VFAT is not natively supported by Windows 2000.

FAT32 filesystems support partitions up to 32GB.
Filenames up to 255 characters long.
Filenames begin with a letter and exclude " / \ [ ] : ; = , ^ * ?
The last part is the extension but spaces can be used
It supports file attributes used by DOS such as read-only, archive, system, and hidden.
Won't support running POSIX applications.
FAT partitions provide no local security, only share level security across a network.

NTFS Filesystem Characteristics

Windows 2000 NTFS file systems are newer than Windows NT NTFS file systems. In order for Windows NT and Windows 2000 to use the Windows 2000 file system together, the Windows NT system must have service pack 4 or later installed.

Filenames up to 255 characters long
Filenames preserve case but are not case sensitive.
Filenames exclude " / \ < > : * ?
Supports built in file compression as a file attribute. Compression is applied to files in a folder if that folder has its compression attribute set. Also optionally sub folders and their contents may be compressed. Compression is not supported if the cluster size is above 4K in size. Moved files retain their compression attribute, but if they are copied they will assume the compression attribute of the target folder.
Provides automatic transaction tracking of disk activity for correcting corrupt or failed operations.
Supports auditing.
Provides sector sparing.
There is a recycle bin for each user.
Windows 16 bit and DOS environments can't use this filesystem.
A master file table is used to save individual file, boot sector, disk structure, and file recovery information.
Automatically makes 11 character DOS file names. When the first 8 characters of long filenames match, the first four DOS file names use the first for characters of the long name, the ~ and 1, then2, etc. After the fourth duplicate name, the first two characters are used, then the next four characters are hashed, then the ~ character then a number. The first two duplicate file names may be: DOCU~1.DOC and DOCU~2.DOC. The long extension is used as part of the extension for the 8.3 filename alias.Directory entries used by long filenames include 1 for the 8.3 alias and 1 for each 13 characters in the long filename.
Provides file logging ability and file recovery.
Supports POSIX.
Maximum file or partition size of 16 exabytes.
Supports file sharing with MacIntosh clients.
The disk is in 8M bands with a 2K file allocation map between each band. The 2K map is a map for the associated 8M band. This structure is called the BTREE and is used to reduce fragmentation.
Supports file encryption with the Encrypting File System (EFS) on Windows 2000.
Allows volumes on remote computers or local computers to be mounted as though they are part of the same partition they are mounted on. This feature is available on Windows 2000.
Disk quotas (tracking of disk space) on a user by user basis are tracked.
Removable media formatted in NTFS can be changed and accessed without rebooting the system in Windows 2000 (not NT).
If installing DOS with NT, install DOS first so DOS will not corrupt the NT boot sector and stop the NT boot manager from running. Floppies are formatted as FAT, not NTFS.