Every Computer File System Explained

A file system is the method an operating system uses to organize and store files on a storage device such as a hard drive, SSD, or USB drive. It keeps track of where every file is located and how the data is arranged so the computer can quickly read, write, and manage information. One of the oldest file system used in Windows is called FAT. It stands for file allocation table. The first version was FAT 12 released in 1980 and it could only store files smaller than 32 megabytes in size. Anything larger than that and you were prompted by an error. However, it was enough at that time, but storage devices quickly started becoming larger and more efficient. So, a new version called FAT 16 was introduced. This version massively increased the limits. For the first time, computers could use 16 gigabyte hard drives and store individual files larger than 2 gigabytes. Later, FAT 32 was introduced, which we still use today. It supports volumes larger than 32 GB on Windows and even 2 TB on some other operating systems. FAT32 supports max file size of up to 4 GB. In modern systems, this 4 GB file limit can sometimes become a problem. For example, if you try copying a video file larger than 4 GB to a FAT 32 flash drive, the system will show an error even if the drive still has plenty of free space. Moreover, FAT32 cannot create partitions larger than 2 terb. So, if someone tries to format a 4 TB drive using FAT 32, the system may split it into two two terabytes partitions instead of creating one large partition. Despite these limitations, FAT32 is still widely used for USB flash drives, memory cards, and some external drives. The main reason is compatibility. Because FAT has existed for such a long time, it works with almost every operating system and device. NTFS. NTFS stands for new technology file system. It can support extremely large files and volumes. A single file can be 16 xabytes. For context, 1 xabyte is equal to 1 million terabytes. In other words, file size and volume size is limitless, which remove the biggest restriction of FAT 32. NTFS is also a journaling file system. This means it keeps a record of changes being made to the drive. If the computer suddenly crashes or loses power,