I have a network with two win98se machines networked through a switch hub,using ICS. Want to upgrade one machine to Win2k, should I use FAT 32 or NTFS......And do most home machines you buy with WIN2k on them ( HP,DELL,GATEWAY,ETC) use the FAT 32 or the NTFS system? Which would be better for my home setup?

If you want to use the security features of Win2K then NTFS is your best choice.

the only problem is, the Win98 machines will not be able to access anything on the 2000 machine if you use NTFS. but, as Hammer said, it is much more secure than FAT32.

All files are still accessable through the network if a share is enabled the only difference is that if you had to mount your NTFS drive in your 98 system you would not be able to access the data. You could only access the data by mounting the drive in an NT or Win2K machine if you select the NTFS file system

If you wish to make win2k as server with several win98 machines, use NTFS. Yes, it provides much more security than FAT32. You will be able to assign your win2k resuorces to make them available to win98 client regardless your w2k is fat32 or ntfs.

I always create two partitions. C becomes NTFS with Win2K installed, and D becomes FAT32 with all programs and data. There should NEVER be a reason to get anything off of the C Drive (Operating System only).

And just since the original post asked..... most computer companies send out there machine formatted in FAT, or else in two partitions with one being FAT and the other being NTFS (a converted FAT)...... And I'd suggest installing the OS from scratch, and not upgrading...