Ever wondered Partiation sizes?

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File Allocation Table (FAT) Guide

Operating System
FAT16
FAT32
NTFS

Windows XP




Windows 2000




Windows NT 4.01




Windows 95 OSR2, Windows 98, and Windows Me




Windows 95 (prior to OSR2)




MS-DOS







Table 13.5 NTFS Size Limits

Description
Limit

Maximum file size
Theory: 16 exabytes minus 1 KB (264 bytes minus 1 KB)

Implementation: 16 terabytes minus 64 KB (244 bytes minus 64 KB)

Maximum volume size
Theory: 264 clusters minus 1 cluster

Implementation: 256 terabytes minus 64 KB ( 232 clusters minus 1 cluster)

Files per volume
4,294,967,295 (232 minus 1 file)


Maximum Sizes on FAT32 Volumes
A FAT32 volume must have a minimum of 65,527 clusters. Windows XP Professional can format FAT32 volumes up to 32 GB, but it can mount larger FAT32 volumes created by other operating systems. Table 13.6 lists FAT32 size limits.

Table 13.6 FAT32 Size Limits

Description
Limit

Maximum file size
4 GB minus 1 byte (232 bytes minus 1 byte)

Maximum volume size
32 GB (implementation)

Files per volume
4,177,920

Maximum number of files and subfolders within a single folder
65,534 (The use of long file names can significantly reduce the number of available files and subfolders within a folder.)


Maximum Sizes on FAT16 Volumes
FAT16 supports a maximum of 65,524 clusters per volume. Table 13.7 lists FAT16 size limits.

Table 13.7 FAT16 Size Limits

Description
Limit

Maximum file size
4 GB minus 1 byte (232 bytes minus 1 byte)

Maximum volume size
4 GB

Files per volume
Approximately 65,536 (216 files)

Maximum number of files and folders within the root folder
512 (Long file names can reduce the number of available files and folders in the root folder.)


Table 13.4 Default Cluster Sizes for Volumes with Windows XP Professional File Systems

Volume Size
FAT16 Cluster Size
FAT32 Cluster Size
NTFS Cluster Size

7 MB–16 MB
2 KB
Not supported
512 bytes

17 MB–32 MB
512 bytes
Not supported
512 bytes

33 MB–64 MB
1 KB
512 bytes
512 bytes

65 MB–128 MB
2 KB
1 KB
512 bytes

129 MB–256 MB
4 KB
2 KB
512 bytes

257 MB–512 MB
8 KB
4 KB
512 bytes

513 MB–1,024 MB
16 KB
4 KB
1 KB

1,025 MB–2 GB
32 KB
4 KB
2 KB

2 GB–4 GB
64 KB
4 KB
4 KB

4 GB–8 GB
Not supported
4 KB
4 KB

8 GB–16 GB
Not supported
8 KB
4 KB

16 GB–32 GB
Not supported
16 KB
4 KB

32 GB–2 terabytes
Not supported
Not supported1
4 KB






Options Available When You Format a Volume

Format Option
Where the Option Is Available


Setup
My Computer or Windows Explorer
Disk Management
Format Command

Volume label
No option to create a volume label.
Available for all volumes.
Available for all volumes.
Use the /v:label parameter to specify the volume label.

Quick format
Available for all volumes.
Available for all volumes.
Available for all volumes.
Use the /q parameter to specify the quick format option.

Enable compression
No option to compress the volume.
Available for NTFS volumes.
Available for NTFS volumes.
Use the /c parameter to enable compression for NTFS volumes.

Allocation unit (cluster) size
Uses the default cluster size only.
Offers default cluster sizes for FAT volumes and clusters sizes up to 4 KB for NTFS volumes.
Offers all available cluster sizes.
Use the /a:size parameter to specify the cluster size.




BY: MRA - 06/2002