About File Systems

This section contains information about the two file systems that Windows NT supports:

• File Allocation Table (FAT). The computer can access files on a FAT primary partition or logical drive when it is running Windows NT, Windows 95, MS-DOS, or OS/2.

• Windows NT File System (NTFS). The computer must be running Windows NT to be able to access files on an NTFS volume.

With Windows NT, you can create and use long filenames as well as short filenames. Long and short filenames can be used on both NTFS or FAT volumes. A long filename can be up to 256 characters long. Short filenames are in the format xxxxxxxx.yyy, and are compatible with MS-DOS and OS/2.

Information about long and short filenames that is unique to each file system is described in the "Filenames on FAT Partitions" and "Filenames on NFTS Partitions" sections, presented later in this chapter. The section "Generating and Viewing Short Filenames," presented later in this chapter, contains general information about short filenames for both NTFS and FAT volumes.