Hard disk NTFS, large capacity flash memory (universal >; 4G) to use exFAT. EXFAT (Extended File Allocation Table, also called FAT64) is a file system especially suitable for flash drives. This file system was first imported from Microsoft's Windows Embedded CE 6.0, and later extended to the later Windows Vista Service Pack1desktop operating system. Because of some data formats of NTFS file system, exFAT file system has advantages over flash drives. Compared with the previous FAT file system, exFAT has the advantage that it can be extended to a larger disk size. Theoretically, the file size is limited to 264 bytes (16 megabytes) and the cluster size is limited to 232 bytes (4 megabytes in FAT32). The maximum cluster size is 2255 bytes per sector and the maximum is 32 MB. Due to the use of free space addressing, the performance of space allocation and deletion has been improved. Supporting more than 265,438+06 files in a single folder supports access control lists (but not yet supported in Windows Vista SP 1). The FAT file system (TFAT) supporting transaction security (an optional function in WINCE) provides OEM with definable parameters, which can make the file system adapt to devices with different characteristics. Timestamps can use UTC time, not just the local time zone (starting with SP2 Vista). In addition, exFAT requires less disk space overhead than NTFS. It is found that formatting a 4GB flash drive to NTFS requires 472MB of disk space, while using exFAT requires 96KB.
Compared with the past FAT file system, exFAT has the disadvantage that some devices (such as PDA and DC) will not be able to use exFAT flash cards. Devices using exFAT will not be able to use the ReadyBoost feature of Windows Vista. (The new exFAT system of Windows 7 supports ReadyBoost, and the authorization method is not clear. However, Microsoft has applied for a patent for a part of the FAT file system, and users can add patches supporting exFAT on Windows XP. NTFS is the standard file system of Windows NT and higher versions of Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista and Windows 7. NTFS replaced the file allocation table (FAT) file system and provided a file system for Microsoft's Windows operating system. NTFS has made some improvements to FAT and HPFS (High Performance File System), such as supporting metadata, using advanced data structures to improve performance, reliability and disk space utilization, and providing some additional extended functions, such as access control list (ACL) and file system log. The detailed definition of this file system is a trade secret, but Microsoft has registered it as an intellectual property product.