| Feature | FAT32 | NTFS | |---------|-------|------| | Max Volume Size | 32 GB (XP limit; theoretical 2 TB) | 2 TB+ (with dynamic disks) | | Max File Size | 4 GB | 16 TB (theoretical) | | Security (ACLs) | No | Yes | | Compression | No | Yes | | Encryption (EFS) | No | Yes | | Quotas | No | Yes | | Recovery | CHKDSK slower | Logged transactions |

This GUI tool allowed partition creation, deletion, and formatting. It was essential for initializing new disks or repartitioning an existing drive.

Modern hard drives use 4K sectors (Advanced Format). Windows XP formats partitions with a starting offset of 63 sectors (31.5 KB), which does not align with 4K boundaries, causing severe performance degradation. This is a critical incompatibility.