A large percentage of home computer users probably have no idea what a file system is. The file system is what the operating system uses to structure and retrieve the data on your hard drives.
MORE ...NTFS is currently the primary file system used by Windows XP. It was first introduced with Windows NT.
MORE ...To NTFS or not to NTFS - that is the question. But unlike the deeper questions of life, this one isn't really all that hard to answer.
MORE ...The characteristics and properties of the two common Windows file systems are discussed.
MORE ...NTFS is a recoverable file system that guarantees the consistency of the volume by using standard transaction logging and recovery techniques. In the event of a disk failure, NTFS restores consistency by running a recovery procedure that accesses information stored in a log file. The NTFS recovery procedure is exact, guaranteeing that the volume is restored to a consistent state. Transaction logging requires a very small amount of overhead.
MORE ...A sparse file has an attribute that causes the I/O subsystem to allocate only meaningful (nonzero) data. Nonzero data is allocated on disk, and non-meaningful data (large strings of data composed of zeros) is not. When a sparse file is read, allocated data is returned as it was stored; non-allocated data is returned, by default, as zeros.
MORE ...EFS uses symmetric key encryption in combination with public key technology to protect files. File data is being encrypted with symmetric algorithm (DESX). The key, used in symmetric encryption is called File Encryption Key (FEK). The FEK in its own turn is encrypted with a public/private key algorithm (RSA) and stored along with the file. The reason why two different algorithms are used is the speed of encryption. The performance burden of asymmetric algorithms is too much to use them for encrypting a large amount of data. Symmetric algorithms are about 1000 times faster making their suitable for encrypting of large amounts of data.
MORE ...User can invoke EFS features through Windows Explorer or by using a command-line utility called cipher.exe. To use Windows Explorer to encrypt file, open File property window by right clicking on file name. Click Advanced... button - Advanced Attributes dialog will be opened allowing you to mark file as encrypted.
MORE ...The Encrypting File System (EFS) provides the core file encryption technology used to store encrypted files on NTFS volumes. EFS keeps files safe from intruders who might gain unauthorized physical access to sensitive, stored data (for example, by stealing a portable computer or external disk drive).
MORE ...Windows NT/2000 supports compression on individual files, folders, and entire NTFS volumes. Files compressed on an NTFS volume can be read and written by any Windows-based application without first being decompressed by another program.
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