| For volumes of this type... system is... | The best choice of file |
| Small volumes (< 400MB) with few or no security needs | FAT |
| Volumes requiring file-level security | NTFS |
| Volumes that will be shared on a network | NTFS |
| Volumes requiring file compression | NTFS |
| Large volumes (> 400MB) that require efficient storage (i.e., don't waste space because of cluster size minimums) | NTFS |
| Volume sets that need to be extensible in the future (by adding additional free disk space) | NTFS |
| Boot partition of a RISC-based computer | FAT |
| Floppies or other removable media that are swapped during NT sessions | FAT |
| Volumes that must be accessible by other OSs such as MS-DOS, Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups, Windows 95, or OS/2 | FAT |