FAT Tools and Settings

Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

In this section

• FAT Tools

• FAT Registry Entries

• FAT WMI Classes

The following tools, registry settings, and Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) classes are associated with FAT volumes.

FAT Tools

The following tools are associated with FAT. The tools in this list are used to create and maintain FAT volumes.

Chkdsk.exe: Check Disk

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Chkdsk.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Chkdsk is a command-line tool that verifies the logical integrity of a file system on a Windows Server 2003 volume. Setting parameters on the command line will list and fix any errors.

For more information about Chkdsk, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Chkntfs.exe: Chkntfs

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Chkntfs.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Displays or specifies whether automatic system checking is schedule to be run on a FAT16 or FAT32 volume when the computer is started.

For more information about Chkntfs, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Defrag.exe: Defragmentation

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Defrag.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Arranges clusters on a disk in an optimized order.

For more information about Defrag, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Diskpart.exe: Disk Partition

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Diskpart includes a few 64-bit parameters that are only available on Itanium-based computers. Diskpart.exe works on both FAT and NTFS volumes.

Command-line tool that allows you to manage disks and partitions by using scripts or direct input from a command prompt. Diskpart locates and consolidates fragmented boot files, data files, and folders on local or remote volumes.

For more information about Diskpart, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Format.exe: Format

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Format.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Prepares a volume on the specified disk to accept Windows files.

For more information about Format, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Fsutil.exe: File Systems Utilities

Category

Operating System tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Fsutil.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Performs file system tasks such as disabling long file names, checking whether a volume is flagged as dirty, viewing NTFS-related information about a volume, creating hard links, and managing quotas and sparse files.

For more information about Fsutil, see Command Line References in the Tools and Settings Collection.

Recovery Console

Category

Operating system tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Recovery Console works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

The Recovery Console is a text-mode command-line interpreter that you can use for basic troubleshooting and maintenance. It is separate from the Windows Server 2003 command prompt and grants limited local hard disk access for FAT volumes.

Vrfydsk.exe: Verify Disk

Category

Resource Kit tool

Version compatibility

Windows Server 2003. Vrfydsk.exe works on FAT and NTFS volumes.

Command-line tool that checks the consistency and integrity of the file system on a specified volume.

For more information about Vrfydsk, see Resource Kit Tools in the Tools and Settings Collection.

FAT Registry Entries

The following registry entries are associated with the FAT file system.

The information here is provided as a reference for use in troubleshooting or verifying that the required settings are applied. It is recommended that you do not directly edit the registry unless there is no other alternative. Modifications to the registry are not validated by the registry editor or by Windows before they are applied, and as a result, incorrect values can be stored. This can result in unrecoverable errors in the system. When possible, use Group Policy or other Windows tools, such as Microsoft Management Console (MMC), to accomplish tasks rather than editing the registry directly. If you must edit the registry, use extreme caution.

FileSystem

The following registry entry is located under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\FileSystem.

Win95TruncatedExtensions

Registry Path

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem

Version

Microsoft Windows NT 4.0 Server and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation and later.

Truncates extensions on FAT partitions, allowing you to work with 3-character extension files as well as 4-character extension files (for example, *.htm is treated identically to *.html).

For more information about this registry entry, see the Registry Reference in the Tools and Settings Collection.

FAT WMI Classes

The following table lists and describes the WMI classes that are associated with file systems.

WMI Classes Associated with FAT

For more information about these WMI classes, see the WMI SDK documentation on MSDN.