178
votes
Accepted
How can a file's size on disk be 0 bytes when there's data in it?
This happens if the file is so small that its contents and the filesystem bookkeeping fit in 1KB. To save disk space, NTFS keeps small files "resident", storing their contents right in the ...
- 39.5k
156
votes
"directory junction" vs "directory symbolic link"?
Symbolic links have more functionality, while junctions almost seem to be a legacy feature because of their limitations, but the security implications of these limitations are specifically why a ...
- 2,019
153
votes
Accepted
Windows 10 "Enable NTFS long paths policy" option missing
The value has moved from NTFS directly into Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem in the RTM version of the Version 1607.
- 96.6k
112
votes
How to create and format a partition using a Bash script?
sfdisk
sfdisk is a Scripted version of fdisk.
It is part of util-linux, just like fdisk, so availability should be the same.
A partition table with a single partition that takes the whole disk can be
...
103
votes
Delete old windows / program files from second drive?
Open a Command Prompt with administrative privileges.
Run following commands, one at a time (change "Z:\Program Files" with folder you want to delete):
takeown /F "Z:\Program Files&...
- 1,128
91
votes
Accepted
How to create and format a partition using a Bash script?
Similar to the previous suggestions, piping commands to fidsk, I've found this approach useful to leave details for subsequent maintainers. The sed bits strip off all the comments before fdisk gets ...
- 1,082
78
votes
"directory junction" vs "directory symbolic link"?
Complex talk hurts brain -- I like charts:
Assume any MyLink is a symbolic link and any MyJunc is a junction pointing at Target as created.
e.g.
mklink /D MyLink C:\T_Dir for creating a symbolic ...
- 1,221
76
votes
Accepted
How does OneDrive make its folder not functional for older Windows versions?
NTFS has a feature called reparse points, in which a file or directory can be tagged for special processing by the operating system. It's used to implement quite a few features – e.g. volume mount ...
- 408k
75
votes
What is the difference between NTFS hard links and directory junctions?
Quick Definitions:
Symbolic link: A link to a file or directory on the same or different volume (drive letter) or even to a remote file or directory (using UNC in its path).
Hard Link: A link to a ...
- 1,450
64
votes
Accepted
Non-hidden directory doesn't show in Explorer, but the program that made it can access it
Let me guess: the program that created the file, and also the GNU utilities, are not running as administrator.
First, some history. In the days of Windows XP, lots of programs assumed they would ...
- 39.5k
58
votes
Delete old windows / program files from second drive?
What worked for me was a simplified version of this suggestion:
Rename the Windows folder to Windows.old
Run Disk Cleanup from the Start menu
Select the drive containing the Windows.old folder
...
- 803
47
votes
Accepted
How can ntfs.sys be loaded if the driver is located in an NTFS partition?
ntfs.sys is the NTFS driver for the Windows operating system. However, Windows does not start itself. It relies on the Windows Boot Manager. Windows Boot Manager and winload have built-in NTFS support....
- 58k
46
votes
Accepted
Why do the "<" and ">" characters seem to corrupt Windows folders?
The error isn't caused by angle brackets exactly, or by having two of them – instead it occurs when 1) a file name contains wildcard characters in its name, and 2) the wildcard would match a ...
- 408k
41
votes
Accepted
Folder named '*'
* is one of the disallowed characters in Windows filenames (as wildcard expansion is done by the filesystem on Windows). It is, however, allowed on NTFS in general, so having such a directory doesn't ...
- 408k
39
votes
Accepted
Is it safe to delete a file that is reportedly bigger than it should be
That's not necessarily erroneously bigger than your whole drive. Many filesystems including NTFS and ext4 support sparse files, in which areas consisting entirely of 'zero' bytes (00 00 00 00 ...) do ...
- 408k
35
votes
Accepted
Can I share folders on a LAN using NTFS alone?
NTFS, like ext4, are partition file systems. They only operate on the local computer. You need to “share” a folder in order to make it accessible outside the local computer.
Further to that, when ...
- 1,123
32
votes
Does a hard drive remember bad sectors after formatting?
NTFS remembers bad clusters. A cluster is considered bad if any sector in it is inaccessible. Since the cluster badness information is stored in a file ($BadClus, specifically), that information will ...
- 39.5k
31
votes
Accepted
Simplest way to view master file table (MFT) size in Windows 7?
You can use the fsutil utility that comes with Windows.
fsutil fsinfo ntfsinfo c:
In the output, look for the Mft Valid Data Length line. The value is hexadecimal; you can convert it to decimal ...
- 39.5k
30
votes
Why should I use exFAT over NTFS on removable media?
NTFS has journaling which helps ensure the file system can recover from corruption, whereas exFAT does not. So if you use the drive only from Windows PCs and reliability and data integrity are ...
- 1,337
28
votes
UEFI Boot a NTFS Drive
The latest version of Rufus allows seamless UEFI boot from an NTFS partition.
If you select a Windows installation ISO, set the partition scheme to GPT partition scheme for UEFI computers and also ...
- 5,738
28
votes
Can I share folders on a LAN using NTFS alone?
The confusion is caused by your using old and new Microsoft documentation,
where both are badly worded.
NTFS has a permissions model, while the ancient FAT32 does not.
In NTFS, files/folders can have ...
- 438k
27
votes
Accepted
What exactly does NTFS compression do to files?
What exactly does NTFS compression do to files?
By default, it transparently compresses them using a variant of Lempel-Ziv compression:
The LZNT1 compression algorithm is the only compression ...
- 150k
26
votes
Accepted
How can I make Windows think a file "came from another computer"?
When a file is downloaded to a NTFS file system, you may notice in the file properties dialog there is an additional Security section with an Unblock checkbox:
This additional data about the file is ...
- 2,218
25
votes
Windows 10 "Enable NTFS long paths policy" option missing
Modify applicable registry settings as listed in the below answers to potentially help resolve.
Know your Build Version
You can run WINVER to see what build your Windows 10 is but from what I gather ...
21
votes
Accepted
Is there a way to make changes to an NTFS hard-linked file be written to a new file?
This would not be a "hardlink" anymore; it would be called a "reflink" or "copy-on-write link".
Copy-on-write links are not supported by NTFS, as it doesn't support ...
- 408k
20
votes
Accepted
Cannot mount NTFS partitions because of Windows 10?
This happens since Windows 8, when you use the new hybrid shutdown, which is basically a logoff + hibernation. And the hibernation can cause issues, if you now mount the NTFS partition.
You have to ...
- 96.6k
20
votes
Does a hard drive remember bad sectors after formatting?
If the OS is encountering bad sectors, the drive's internal bad block table is probably full (as Ben N pointed out) and it is time to retire the drive. Drives typically don't stop failing.
- 199
20
votes
Accepted
Are files that use NTFS compression decompressed onto disk or into memory?
Windows decompresses files into memory. Doing it onto disk would completely obliterate any speed improvements and would cause a lot of unnecessary disk writing. See the end of this Microsoft blog ...
- 39.5k
19
votes
Can I share folders on a LAN using NTFS alone?
You ask two questions, so there are two answers:
In a Windows NTFS only environment, if I wanted to use NTFS alone to share folders on a LAN, could I do that?
No. NTFS is only a disk layout and not ...
- 408k
17
votes
NTFS compressed folders: is it possible to tweak compression ratio?
Generally it's not possible, as indicated in and31415's answer.
However Microsoft has added some new NTFS compression options and algorithms in Windows 10, so now there's a way to change the ...
- 25.2k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible