Copyright 1991-1997 by Symantec CorporationNDDc.┌o;o'
F	F	:5How to use Help╒╒ê
hyperlink'║║	]Norton Disk Doctor Index$''_!How Disk Doctor Works/,,Ä"Norton Disk Doctor (Main Screen)+¡¡║Select the Drive to Diagnose66gQuit Disk Doctor&SS¥$Monitor Drive Diagnosis╪╪%Summary Screen())α&Norton Disk Doctor Reportφφ	)Undo Changes"..÷+ Disk Doctor Options#ÖÖL1 Surface Test Options$ssσ6
Surface Test Disk Map!uuX9&Set Custom Message'çç▌?#Automatic Repair Options		lE1General OptionsbbÜNSave NDD Options.╡╡ⁿO&When the Doctor Finds a Problem┴WFound Undo File'··╠YFree Cluster Count Error"²²╞\Open files on drive±±├`partition··┤aFATáá«blost clusters==NdCMOS //ïeCompressed Drives  ║iFAT32 Partitions
Each tool of the Norton Utilities has context-sensitive help,
available at a touch of the ^BF1^n key.

Whenever you are using a dialog box and you want instructions on
how to proceed, press ^BF1^n. When you've got a menu pulled down,
you can move the highlight to any item and press ^BF1^n for help on
that item.

When you are first getting familiar with a tool, you will find it
helpful to select the ^b[Index]^n button at the bottom of any help
screen. It displays a list of topics, at least one of which
provides background and introductory material.

^hHyperlinks^h are highlighted phrases in a help topic that transfer
you to another topic. Select the ^b[Go To]^n button (just press ^bG^n)
or double-click the hyperlink text. Select the ^b[Go Back]^n button
(just press ^bB^n) to return to the original topic. When more than
one hyperlink is on a screen, press ^bTab^n or ^bShift^n+^bTab^n to move
among them.

  With the Keyboard             █  With a Mouse
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
^BTo access help:^n                 █
    Press F1                   █  Press F1 for context-
                                █   sensitive help
^BTo exit help:^n                   █
    Press Esc or select        █  Click [Cancel]
     [Cancel] or press C        █   
                                █
^BTo select a help topic:^n         █
    Select [Index] or press I  █  Click [Index]
    Press Tab or Shift+Tab to  █  Double-click the topic
     highlight a topic          █
    Select [Go To] or press G  █
                                █
^BTo scroll through a topic:^n      █
    Use  and  or press       █  Drag the slide on the
     Home End PgUp PgDn         █   scroll bar or click the
                                █   arrows at top and bottom
^BTo select a button:^n             █   
    Press the accented letter  █  Click the button
     in the button or use       █
      and  to highlight       █
     button and press Enter     █
                                █
^BTo expand a hyperlink:^n          █
    Press Tab or Shift+Tab     █  Double-click the hyperlink
     to highlight text in       █   text
     contrasting color or       █  Click [Go Back] to return
     intensity                  █
    Select [Go To] or press G  █
    Select [Go Back] or        █ 
     press B to return          █
You're in the expanded topic. If you become hyperactive and get
lost, select ^B[Index]^n. Or, press ^bEsc^n to exit the help system.

To return to the previous topic, select ^B[Go Back]^n (press B).
Do it now.


	
^BAbout^B
 ^h How Disk Doctor Works ^h
 ^h Compressed Drives     ^h
 ^h FAT32 Partitions      ^h
^BCommands^B
 ^h Diagnose Disk         ^h Test the integrity of a disk.
 ^h Surface Test          ^h Test the surface of a disk.
 ^h Undo Changes          ^h Undo Norton Disk Doctor changes.
 ^h Options               ^h Set Norton Disk Doctor options.
 ^h Quit Disk Doctor      ^h Exit Norton Disk Doctor.
^BHelp^B
 ^h How to use Help       ^h
Norton Disk Doctor runs numerous tests to determine the health
of your disk and warns you if it finds problems. You are given
the option of correcting them. The tests and corrections are
performed automatically, so you need not have any fear even if
the way a computer works is a complete mystery to you.

For extra safety, you can even undo any changes the Disk Doctor
has performed. Norton Disk Doctor also examines the disk for
physical defects and generates a report about your disk. If
testing is interrupted, you can print the report on what
happened so far.

Use the Disk Doctor to diagnose your disk for a variety of
possible disk problems:

  * If you have trouble accessing a disk
  * If you notice problems when you try to run applications
  * If files or directories seem to be missing but were
    never deleted
  * If your computer does not start and you suspect problems
    with the boot disk or partition

The ^hNorton Disk Doctor^h main screen, which appears when you
first start the program, lets you set Disk Doctor to work.

^bTip:^b Practice preventive maintenance by running Norton Disk
     Doctor daily. Make sure the following line appears in your
     AUTOEXEC.BAT file:

       ^BNDD /Q^B

     With this, a quick test of your hard disk will be run every
     time you start your computer.
Norton Disk Doctor (NDD) automatically diagnoses and repairs
damaged disks. It runs numerous tests to determine the
integrity of all parts of a disk. When it finds a problem, it
tells you about it and fixes it (at your option). It prints
a detailed report about your disk and all problems found and
all measures taken to correct them.

In this screen, you are given five options. Use ^B^B and ^B^B to
highlight an option and press ^BEnter^B to select it.

^bDiagnose Disk^b: Select this first. You will be prompted to
 select one or more of your drives and then Norton Disk Doctor
 will begin its comprehensive diagnosis. If Norton Disk Doctor
 finds an error, you can choose to fix the problem or leave it
 alone.

^BSurface Test^B: This test verifies the readability of disk
 sectors and is usually run automatically after Diagnose Disk.
 If you are having trouble with elusive read errors, you can
 jump straight to the surface test.

^bUndo Changes^b: When Norton Disk Doctor fixes a problem, it can
 save the original data of anything it changes (it creates an
 "undo" file, typically on a different disk). You will use this
 only option if you want to change a disk back to its previous
 condition before Norton Disk Doctor changed the disk.

^bOptions^b: This button lets you preselect surface-testing
 options, skip certain tests (some take a long time or may not
 be compatible with your system), and create a custom message
 to be displayed when Norton Disk Doctor finds a problem.

^bQuit Disk Doctor^b: Select this when you have finished using
 Norton Disk Doctor.
This dialog box lets you pick which drives you want Norton Disk
Doctor to diagnose and repair.

^BTo pick a single drive:^B
  * Use ^B^B and ^B^B to highlight the drive name and then
    press ^BEnter^B. Testing will begin immediately.

^BTo pick two or more drives:^B
  * Use ^B^B and ^B^B to highlight a drive and press ^BSpacebar^B
    to mark it for diagnosis. A check mark is displayed by each
    drive you have selected.
  * Press ^BEnter^B to begin diagnosing the first disk that's tagged
    with a checkmark. When Disk Doctor is finished with that
    disk, it begins on the next.

With a mouse, click on any drive you want tested and then select
the [Diagnose] button.
Select this command to exit (or just press ^bEsc^b).

6	2

Norton Disk Doctor displays its actions as it diagnoses your
disk. If all goes well, you need do nothing while the screen
is displayed.

If NDD discovers a problem, it describes that problem,
recommends an action, and lets you choose to have the problem
fixed or leave it in place. ^BIt is always best to let the^B
^BDoctor fix your disk.^B All changes can be undone, so even in
the rare case where the Doctor slips a stitch, you can easily
get back to the original state.

^bAnalyzing Boot Record^b tests the readability and contents of
 the very first sector on the diskette (or hard disk ^hpartition^h).
 This sector contains the DOS start-up program and important
 information about the disk.

^bAnalyzing File Allocation Tables^b tests the readability and
 verifies the authenticity of both copies of the ^hFAT^h.

^bAnalyzing Directory Structure^b looks at each directory on the
 disk to make sure it is readable and is, in fact, a
 directory. This also makes sure that the special directory
 entries ^b.^b and ^b..^b really link to self and parent.

^bAnalyzing File Structure^b checks each file entry in each
 directory, looking for oddities and invalid entries.

^bAnalyzing Lost Clusters^b makes sure that each entry in each
 directory correctly links into the FAT, that each FAT chain
 is unbroken, that each chain is owned by a single file, and
 that no ^hlost clusters^h exist.

^bAnalyzing Compression Structures^b is performed if you're using
 a compressed drive, which is really a special file on your hard
 drive. If this file is damaged, you may not be able to access
 data on your compressed drive.
This screen summarizes the test results and problems found for
the selected disk.

Select ^b[Report...]^b (just press Enter) for detailed information
on the disk and problems found. If any problems came up, it
is wise to print a report for future reference.

Select ^b[Done]^b (or just press ^BEsc^B) to skip the report and get
back to the opening screen. If you previously specified to
diagnose more than one disk, the analysis for the next disk
will begin immediately.
The Disk Doctor report is a scrolling list of text describing
the disk and documenting the test results.

Use ^B^B and ^B^B and ^BPgDn^B '√0PgUp^B to examine the report on screen.
Select ^b[Done]^b or press ^BEsc^B when you are finished reviewing the
report.

Select ^b[Print]^b to send the text directly to your printer.

Select ^b[Save As...]^b if you wish to save the report as a
text file. You are prompted for a filename and the text is
saved so you can review it or print it out later.

^bWarning:^b Don't save the report to a damaged disk!
Before Norton Disk Doctor fixes your disk, it first asks
if you want to create an ^BUndo File^B. If you do, a file named
^BNDDUNDO.DAT^B is saved in the root directory of a drive you
specify. When you choose Undo Changes, the undo file is
located and its contents are used to reverse any changes
made by Norton Disk Doctor in its most recent session.

^BWarning:^B Do not use Undo Changes if you have performed
         ^bany file-writing operations^b (such as copy, move,
         or erase) on the target disk since the time the
         Undo file was created by Norton Disk Doctor.

Use this option only in the ^Brare case^B that a correction made
by Norton Disk Doctor did not provide satisfactory results and
you wish to fix the disk manually.
	


Use ^B^B and ^B^B to highlight a button and press ^BEnter^B to bring up
that dialog box. Press ^BEsc^B to return to the NDD main screen.

^h General ^h
  Lets you customize testing so that you can benefit from Norton
  Disk Doctor even if parts of your system are not entirely
  compatible with existing standards, or specify whether to
  run the Surface Test as part of regular testing.

^h Surface Test ^h
  Lets you set options to shorten or prolong the most time-
  consuming of the tests made by the Doctor. It also lets you
  set up for weekly "deep" testing when you use Norton Disk
  Doctor on a daily basis.

^h Custom Message ^h
  Designed for use by PC coordinators and MIS personnel so
  novice users aren't intimidated by any of the technical
  messages displayed when Norton Disk Doctor discovers a
  problem. When activated, a non-technical operator can't
  make corrections to any disk.

^h Auto-Repair ^h
  Lets you set the repair action for each type of error that
  Norton Disk Doctor finds. You'll need to set these if you
  want to run tests unattended.

^h Save ^h
  Lets you save the settings of any options you have selected.
  After saving, these settings will be the defaults each time
  you run NDD. Alternatively, select ^b[OK]^b so any changed
  options will apply to the current session only.
Use ^BTab^B to move from group to group and press ^BSpacebar^B to
select one option in each group. Press ^BEnter^B to accept the
settings or ^BEsc^B to cancel.

These options pertain to the often time-consuming tests Norton
Disk Doctor makes to verify the readability of disk sectors.

^b─── What to Test ──────^B
 ^BEntire Disk Area^B verifies all parts of the disk.
 ^BArea Used by Files^B is faster, but it verifies only those
  parts of the disk which are currently in use by files or
  directories.

^b─── Type of Test ──────^B
 ^BNormal Test^B is a "quick scan" of the disk that checks
  data on each track, but does not actually verify each and
  every sector.
 ^BThorough^B performs a comprehensive read of every sector,
  but it takes two to three times longer than the Normal test.
 ^BThorough Test only on Fridays^B is a great compromise. When
  Disk Doctor is run on any Friday (as reported by the system
  clock), the Thorough test type is performed. On other days
  of the week, the quick-scan Normal test is used.

^b─── Passes ────────────^B
 ^BRepetitions [...]^B lets you specify how  many times NDD
  should perform the surface test. Move the cursor to the text
  box and type a number from 0 to 999.
 ^BContinuous^B keeps repeating the test until you stop it by
  pressing ^BEsc^B. You might use these options to flush out an
  intermittent bad sector, which might not show up without
  repeated testing.
While the Doctor is performing surface diagnosis, this screen
monitors the progress. Press ^BEsc^B at any time to pause the
test (and, optionally, cancel the rest of the test).

In the disk map, each block, such as ▒, represents a portion
of the disk (a ^bLegend^b on the screen identifies the different
characters). The actual amount of data represented by a block
varies, depending upon the size of the disk. The blocks in a
bold color (such as ^b▒^b) have already been tested.

The ^BEstimated^B time is a "best guess." It moves around a bit at
first, but settles down when some of the guesswork is removed
from the guess.
&This unique and very useful feature lets MIS directors and
PC coordinators restrict non-technical users from making
corrections with Norton Disk Doctor. You can disable all
modifications to critical system areas and you can have the
Doctor display a custom message instructing the user in how
to proceed.

To enable this feature (and disable error corrections):
  * Check the ^B[ ] Prompt with Custom Message^b check box.
  * Press Tab to move into the message box, and type your
    custom message. For instance, you might type:

  █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█  Press F2 to
  █                          █  change text
  █      Contact Cam in      █  attribute.
  █   PC Wetware Services    █
  █      Extension 1123      █  Current attribute
  █                          █  is ^bBold^b.
  █ ^bDO NOT USE THIS COMPUTER^b █
  █ ^buntil this problem has^b   █ (this changes as you press ^BF2^B)
  █ ^bbeen resolved!_^b          █
  █                          █
  ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

You can dress up your message with certain color attributes:
Normal, Bold, Reverse, and Underline. Just press ^BF2^B to cycle
through the choices before typing the text.

Finally, press Tab to move to the ^b[OK]^b button and press Enter.
Remember to select ^hSave^h in the Disk Doctor Options dialog.

^bTip:^b If you want to see what your message will look like in
     action, just diagnose a floppy disk in a diskette drive
     and open the drive door during the system diagnosis.

This feature does not affect the action during the surface
scan testing, but you can disable corrections there using the
^hGeneral^h options dialog box (and save your setup).
#	Use ^b^b and ^b^b to choose a test, then press ^bSpacebar^b to select a
repair option.

For each test that Norton Disk Doctor runs, you can set the
repair action.

^bPrompt^b
  This is the normal setting which lets you decide how to
  proceed with each error when detected.

^BDon't Repair^B
  If you're only running diagnostics, Norton Disk Doctor will
  just report the error.

^bAuto^b
  If you intend to let Norton Disk Doctor run unattended (such
  as overnight or with numerous repetitions to track elusive
  surface errors), select Auto. This lets Norton Disk Doctor
  repair errors as it finds them and resume immediately. The
  diagnosis report will list all errors found.

^bWhen auto-repairing directory structures:^b
  If you select the Auto option for the Directory Structure
  tests, you can specify what to do with lost clusters. In most
  cases, reclaimed lost clusters contain nothing of value. If
  you decide to save them, they appear in the root directory
  as files with names like FILE0001._DD. Examine them to make
  sure they have no value, then delete them.

  In addition, you can have Norton Disk Doctor prompt you to
  create an Undo file. The Undo file can be used to restore
  your disk to the way it was before Norton Disk Doctor repaired
  it. However, if you intend to perform unattended repairs, you
  should not have Norton Disk Doctor prompt you to create an
  ^hUndo file^h.
1Press ^BSpacebar^b to select a surface test option. Then, use
^BTab^B to move from check box to check box. Press ^BSpacebar^B
to toggle an option on or off. Select ^B[OK]^B (or press ^BEnter^B)
when satisfied with your settings or ^BEsc^B to cancel.

^bSurface Test^b
  The first group of option buttons let you determine if the
  surface test is automatically performed. By default, you are
  prompted before the test is run. As the test can take some
  time, you may want to disable it as part of regular testing.
  When disabled, Norton Disk Doctor tests only the system areas
  of any disk, so be sure to explicitly run a surface test
  occasionally.

The next group of check boxes let you disable specific tests.
Only disable tests if Norton Disk Doctor has problems with your
computer, either because it is a non-standard system or it's
an older system that doesn't accurately report a component.

^B[ ] Skip Partition Tests^B tells Norton Disk Doctor not to perform
  its early test on the ^hhard disk partition^h table. Disk Doctor
  recognizes all standard partitioning setups, but this lets you
  skip the tests if you have an incompatible system.

^B[ ] Skip CMOS Tests^B tells Norton Disk Doctor not to perform its
  early verification of the ^hCMOS^h configuration settings in
  this computer. This is needed only if your computer uses a
  non-standard format for its CMOS configuration record.

^B[ ] Skip Compression Test^b tells Norton Disk Doctor not to verify
  the integrity of a compressed drive. You may want to skip
  this to save some time if you also use the test utility that
  came with you compressed drive software. But use something!

^B[ ] Skip Host Drive Test^b causes Norton Disk Doctor to test
  only the compressed drive, not the host (or uncompressed)
  drive on which it resides.

^B[ ] Only 1 Hard Disk^B causes Norton Disk Doctor to test only the
  first hard disk on your system. This overrides the rare case
  where a system reports two physical hard drives when only one
  is actually installed.

^B[ ] Drives to exclude^b is a list of drive letters that you
  don't want tested. You can also exclude specific drives
  by using the command-line option: ^bNDD /X:d...^B

If you want these settings to become the defaults, remember to
choose ^hSave^h in the Disk Doctor Options dialog.
This option immediately saves all option settings you have
specified through the ^bNorton Disk Doctor Options^b dialog and
its sub-dialogs.

All saved options become the default for the current session
and subsequent sessions with the Doctor. Of course, you can
override default option settings for one session by selecting
options without saving them.
-$
When NDD encounters a disk problem, it normally presents a
dialog such as:
       █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█
       █               ^bError on Drive B:^b              █
       █       Error reading a sector in the FAT      █
       █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█
       █ █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ^bDescription^b ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █
       █ █   The File Allocation Table (FAT) has a  █ █
       █ █  physical error. There are 2 copies of   █ █
       █ █ the FAT, therefore you have a spare, BUT █ █
       █ █   if both go bad, you could lose files.  █ █
       █ █              BACK UP OFTEN!              █ █
       █ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ █
       █ █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ ^bRecommendation^b ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀█ █
       █ █  Correct this situation ONLY if you are  █ █
       █ █    unable to access drive B: properly.   █ █
       █ ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ █
       █                                              █
       █     Do you wish to correct this problem?     █
       █                                              █
       █                                              █
       █    [   Yes    ] [    No    ] [  Cancel  ]    █
       █                                              █
       ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀

Read the ^bDescription^b and ^bRecommendation^b carefully. In most
cases the correct action is to fix the problem (select ^b[Yes]^b),
but you can forego the correction by selecting ^B[No]^B or cancel
the rest of the testing by pressing ^BEsc^B or selecting ^B[Cancel]^B.

The Doctor may ask if you want to create an ^hUndo Information^h
file and where to save it. It is always best to hedge your
bets by creating the Undo file. You'll need a formatted floppy
disk to store the Undo file.

 ^bNote^b: If a ^hCustom Message^h has been enabled via the
  Options dialog, the message will be different and the user
  will have only one choice──to "Cancel."
The Doctor has located an Undo file on the chosen disk.

  ^BWarning:^B Examine the ^bdate and time^b shown in the dialog. If
  it does not match your expectations, do not proceed with the
  undo operation. If you've made any changes to your disk since
  the Undo file was created, don't use it.

The Undo file contains ALL CORRECTIONS made to ALL DISKS
during the specified session. You cannot selectively undo a
single change or pick a single disk.

Select ^b[Yes]^b to proceed with the undo or press ^BEsc^B to cancel.
Norton Disk Doctor has found an error in the free cluster count.

Windows may incorrectly report the free space on this drive due 
to an incorrect free cluster count as recorded in the boot 
record. This commonly occurs when your computer is powered down
abruptly without first shutting down Windows.

Windows stores information about the number of free clusters on 
FAT32 partitions in the boot record and modifies that number as 
disk usage changes. When you power down your computer without 
shutting down Windows, this data may not get updated. Norton Disk
Doctor fixes this problem by setting the free cluster count
to the correct value.

Select ^b[Yes]^b to correct the problem, ^b[No]^b to skip this problem, 
or ^b[Cancel]^b to exit Norton Disk Doctor.
When files are open, it is very likely that Norton Disk Doctor
will report errors that don't really exist. In this situation
we recommend you skip testing on the drive, and then find out
why files are open. For example, some TSRs and DOS Shell
programs keep files open at all times. For best results, you
should exit to the DOS prompt, unload all TSRs, and try
running Norton Disk Doctor again.

For the technically inclined...
───────────────────────────────
When files are opened, certain "bookkeeping" information is
copied from disk into memory. As new data is added on the end
of a file, only the bookkeeping information in memory gets
updated. The disk is not updated until the file is closed.

Norton Disk Doctor can only diagnose problems using information
stored on the disk. When the information on disk is no longer
current with the information kept in memory, Disk Doctor
reports an error, usually Lost Clusters. This "error" does not
really exist -- everything will be okay as soon as the files
are closed.
Each hard disk contains a Partition Table at the beginning
of the disk. It describes how the drive has been divided,
or "partitioned," into one or more drives, and how the drives
are set up for access by one or more disk operating systems.
The FAT (File Allocation Table) is a table of information in the
system area of each disk. It identifies the use of each cluster
on the disk as free, belonging to a file, or bad (unusable).

A cluster is the basic storage allocation unit for files.
Files are written to disk in pieces called clusters, which are
the basic storage allocation units for files.

Lost clusters contain valid data but cannot be linked up with
any known file. However, lost clusters ^Busually^B contain nothing
of value. They may occur, for example, because an application
was not exited gracefully: You turned off the power without
properly quitting and the application had files open.
Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS): A battery-powered
chip in 80286 (and more advanced) computers that preserves basic
data about the system's hardware.

System setup information is stored in this CMOS memory so it will
be preserved while power is turned off. 8088-based PC XTs do not
have this feature.
Norton Disk Doctor also diagnoses and repairs compressed drives.

Compressed drives work by storing a large hidden file in the
root directory of an uncompressed DOS disk, called the ^bhost^b
^bdrive^b. When testing compressed drives, Norton Disk Doctor
makes two passes. The first pass tests the host drive (or
uncompressed drive), the second pass tests the compressed drive.
For each pass, Norton Disk Doctor prompts you to run a surface
test. On the host drive, the surface test verifies the physical
disk media. On the compressed drive, the surface test checks the
integrity of the compressed drive.

When testing a compressed drive, don't worry if Norton Disk
Doctor reports different results than the utility software
supplied with your compression program. Sometimes, the same
error is merely reported differently. For example, one may use
a sector number where the other uses a cluster number. At other
times, there may be real differences. For example, Norton Disk
Doctor can fix "partially erased" files, but other disk repair
utilities may not check for them.
Norton Disk Doctor also diagnoses and repairs FAT 32 partitions.

FAT32 is a new, more robust, more flexible file system from 
Microsoft that supports very large hard drives and uses disk 
space more efficiently (especially on large disks).

The File Allocation Table (FAT) file system was originally 
created to store data on floppy disks (FAT12), and was later 
changed to allow it to handle data on fixed disks such as hard 
disks (FAT16). However, the FAT16 file system cannot support 
today's extremely large hard disks--anything over 2 gigabytes in 
siz--so FAT32 was created to support these larger hard drives 
(up to 2 terabytes) and to provide more efficient use of disk 
space.

Disk space is allocated in clusters. That means that even if a 
file is smaller than a cluster, it still takes up a whole 
cluster, wasting any leftover space in the cluster. 
Or, suppose a file is large enough to fill 3-1/2 clusters--the 
file will still be allocated four entire clusters. Since FAT32 
drives use a smaller cluster size, typically FAT32 drives have 
less wasted (slack) space on the drive.

In addition, FAT32 systems can relocate the root directory and 
use the backup copy of the FAT instead of the default copy. 
Also, the boot record on FAT32 drives now backs up critical 
data, meaning that FAT32 drives are less likely to fail. 
Since the root directory on a FAT32 drive is just a cluster 
chain (instead of being a physical area on the disk), it can 
contain more entries than a FAT16 drive (up to 65,536) and it 
can be located anywhere on the drive.
