NTFS Formatted Removable Media Write Operations Extremely Slow

• Microsoft Windows NT Workstation version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0
• Microsoft Windows NT Server, Enterprise Edition version 4.0

SYMPTOMS

When you write data to removable media that has been formatted with the NTFS file system, it may take up to five times longer to complete the operation than using the same media that has been formatted with the FAT file system.

CAUSE

This behavior occurs because NTFS performs write and commit transactions into the log area of the volume throughout the write operation. Removable media typically takes longer to seek the read/write heads. The penalty for logging is higher with removable media because the log area is in a fixed position on the disk.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT. For additional information, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT version 4.0 Service Pack 5.

Additional query words:

Keywords : kbinterop ntsp kbbug4.00 kbfix4.00 nt4sp5fix
Version : winnt:4.0
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbbug