My OS is Windows XP Home, SP-2.  I use WinRescue XP for my backup.  I have just recently come to the realization that the file system on my computer is NTFS and the file system on the external hard drive I backup to is FAT 32.  I don't know enough about this subject to even ask the right questions, but it occurred to me that maybe I am not getting my backup done correctly if the file systems are different.  I have been doing these backups for over 2 years from this laptop and am worried that none of them have been any good.  I guess, if that's the case, I have just been lucky that nothing major has happened to where I had to restore something.  Then again, maybe it is just fine and I am worried for nothing.  Can someone help me and tell me what I can do to remedy this, if need be?  Thanx, in advance, for whatever help anyone can give me.  MERI[/face][/face][/color]

Its absolutely no problem.

Wow, Snakeyes, thank you so very much for your prompt answer!  So, just to clarify, if I have to "rescue" any of my files and reinstall them from the backup, I would just ignore the fact that they are backed up to a hard drive that is in the FAT 32 format and go ahead and reinstall them onto my laptop harddrive which is NTFS.

   Yes, it is not a problem.
   NTFS allows bigger files and bigger drives but that is the only difference you will notice.
   The only drawback of NTFS is that it cannot be accessed from MSDOS outside of Windows (DOS inside of Windows can access it).  But you probably will never need to do that anyway.  Other operating systems can access NTFS outside of Windows.

Thank you, Ray!  My mind is at ease now and I will continue with my backups.