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Absolutely useless support microsoft ntfs system

#Absolutely useless support microsoft ntfs system upgrade
#Absolutely useless support microsoft ntfs system windows

One thing I did NOT hear so far is using AltDS in applications where certain kind of information MUST be hidden (i.e. Registry cleaners aren't used anymore? Why didn't anybody tell me!? Just look at the unholy mess that is ID3 and the embarrassing results of people leaving the EXIF data in images. In my opinion it's just one of those cases where, if you aren't absolutely sure that it's the right tool, then it's probably the wrong one.Īttaching metadata to files in general is a dangerous game. Having said that, I'm sure that there are some scenarios that justify the use of ADS.

#Absolutely useless support microsoft ntfs system upgrade

But if Microsoft ever decides to supersede/deprecate NTFS - and they did come pretty close at one point - then you're going to have to scramble to upgrade your software so it runs on newer machines.Īs unlikely as that possibility may seem now, I think it's less unlikely than suddenly finding yourself unable to wire up a SQLCE database or XML file stored in the user's AppData. the way this is worded, I guess, technically you're safe.

#Absolutely useless support microsoft ntfs system windows

However, NTFS will be supported in future versions of Windows NT. I can think of one good reason not to use them, and that's this little tidbit from their "how to use" guide:Īlternate data streams are strictly a feature of the NTFS file system and may not be supported in future file systems. Is the use of AD streams really the simplest way to effectively solve your application's metadata storage problem? If so, maybe AD streams are a good idea, but, if not, I'd seriously consider taking another approach. You might want to consider giving people running the uninstaller the option of running a program to search their drive(s) and clean up any remaining streams.Īlso, remember the KISS principle. The problem of leaving the AD streams behind after uninstallation is still very real, of course. Still, I will allow that they might have a valid use for your application. I'm not saying your application is anywhere near as bad as that, but people (especially the less tech-savvy) may not make out the distinction. Consider the Sony rootkit fiasco, and so on. People tend to be nervous about applications that "hide" data from them, regardless of the intent. Keep that in mind if your users will be storing data files on flash drives.Īside from that, I can't think of any technological reasons to avoid AD streams, but I'd still be wary of using them. Modern PCs will probably have NTFS-formatted internal hard drives, but most USB flash drives you encounter are still FAT-formatted. If there's any chance you'll need to store this metadata on a FAT filesystem, you'll need some kind of fallback mechanism. Here's my general thoughts on alternate data streams, though:įirst of all, as you've noted, AD streams only work on NTFS. You seem to be aware of some of the concerns involving their use, so I'm not sure how much I can help. It's hard to say without more information about the kind of data you're storing. Downloading a file from the internet should only transfer the file but not the streams.

AltDS remain even if my App is uninstalled.

Although it would surprise me if MS doesn't automatically convert them if they ever get WinFS together.

Only works on NTFS which may not be the default file system in future Windows Versions.

txt files where it's impossible to store any data in the file itself

Metadata moves with the file, so no need to recognize it through hashing or filename.

It could either be the entire Metadata or just a GUID that works with a separate database. Because I want to have the freedom to move files around, I want to store metadata on the file so that if I move/rename/modify them, my app still recognizes them. I'm in the early stages of writing a small document management system for myself. I just wonder what they can be reasonably used for? Should they be completely left for Microsoft Apps to use? Or is there some sort of common policy what types of apps may use them (apart from malware)?Įdit: Just to clarify what my idea was. It's like a decade ago when people used "Registry Cleaners" to remove useless entries from the registry after uninstalling a program to make their system run faster (and less stable when the cleaner cleaned too much.). I know that this only works on NTFS, but at least if the user copies/moves the files to a Non-NTFS drive they get a Warning from Windows (yeah, yeah, no one reads warnings, I know)-īut also, storing additional data on a file can become very wasteful, as the AltDS stay even if my Application is uninstalled. I just don't feel like this is a good idea. I would like to store some Application-Related Metadata for Files, and NTFS Alternate Data Streams (AltDS) would allow me to store this metadata directly on the files rather than in a separate database.