Anna, I am not 100% sure but I think I recall reading of at least one DOS
Database program that used it's own file locking system because DOS couldn't
do it with the FAT format. IIRC they experienced problems when running with
NTFS volumes for this reason. Perhaps you were seeing something like that?
From what I recall it sounded like their locking system prevented NTFS locks
and or vice versa resulting in files that couldn't later be unlocked.

Again I am not sure I read this right, it was quite some time ago, but it
does sound feasible.

Charlie


> Carey:
> Setting aside the desirability of converting an XP NTFS file system to a
> FAT32 file system based on the OP's need, let me just relate our (limited)
> experience with this conversion process.
>
> Using Partition Magic 8, we've performed about a half-dozen of these
> conversions, one or two of which was for our own experimentation purposes.
> All the systems that were converted (going on about two years or so now)
> are, to the best of our knowledge, functioning without problems.
>
> In those "substantive" conversion cases, the need for conversion arose in
> a strange way. The customers' (about three as I recall) systems were using
> a custom-made program specifically designed for their businesses. The
> program had been designed in pre-XP days and had (has) never been
> upgraded, the developer having been long gone. When they upgraded their
> systems from Win98 to XP, all sorts of problems arose in a way that made
> their program dysfunctional. Since the program in question basically met
> their needs, they desired to retain the program if at all possible.
>
> Through sheer accident, we traced the problems to the NTFS file system.
> Following the conversion process to FAT32, the problems disappeared. To
> this day (AFAIK) we're unable to determine the precise cause of the
> problems relating to this or that aspect of the NTFS file system.
>
> This is not to say, of course, that a user should, for trivial purposes,
> convert his or her NTFS file system to FAT32. But if the user has good &
> sufficient reasons for wanting to do so, based on our (admittedly,
> limited) experience, it's worth a try. With the understanding, of course,
> that this is not a trivial process by any means and there is a real
> possibility for data corruption with the user winding up with a
> dysfunctional system. So it's vital that the user make a backup of his or
> her important/critical files before undertaking this process, or better
> still, create a cloned copy of the drive for safety's sake.
> Anna
>