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Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 as the British Empire Games and, with the exception of 1942 and 1946 (cancelled due to World War II), has successively run every four years since. The event was called the British Empire Games from 1930 to 1950 (four editions), the British Empire and Commonwealth Games from 1954 to 1966 (four editions), and British Commonwealth Games from 1970 to 1974 (two editions). The event removed the word British from its title for the 1978 Games and has maintained its current name ever since (twelve editions as of 2024).

Athletes with a disability are included as full members of their national teams since 2002, making the Commonwealth Games the first fully inclusive international multi-sport event. In 2018, the Games became the first global multi-sport event to feature an equal number of men's and women's medal events, and four years later they became the first global multi-sport event to have more events for women than men.

Inspired by the Inter-Empire Championships, part of the 1911 Festival of Empire, Melville Marks Robinson founded the British Empire Games which was first held in Hamilton, Canada in 1930. As time progressed, the Games evolved, adding the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games for athletes with a disability (who were barred from competing from 1974 before being fully integrated by 1990) and the Commonwealth Youth Games for athletes aged 14 to 18.

The event is overseen by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF), which controls the sporting programme and selects host cities. The games movement consists of international sports federations (IFs), Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) and organising committees for each specific Commonwealth Games. Certain traditions, such as the hoisting of the Commonwealth Games flag and Queen's Baton Relay, as well as the opening and closing ceremonies, are unique to the Games. Over 4,500 athletes competed at the latest Commonwealth Games in 25 sports and over 250 medal events, including Olympic and Paralympic sports and certain non-Olympic sports popular in Commonwealth countries: netball, lawn bowls and squash. Usually, the first, second and third-place finishers in each event are awarded gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively. Several sports, such as rugby sevens (2016), cricket and squash (2028) have appeared at the Commonwealth Games before later being added to the Olympic schedule, while netball and lawn bowls remain Commonwealth Games sports only.

One of the differences from other multisport events is that fifteen CGAs participating in the Commonwealth Games do not send their delegations independently to the Olympic, Paralympic and other multisports competitions: thirteen are linked to the British Olympic Association, one is part of the Australian Olympic Committee and another is part of the New Zealand Olympic Committee. They are the four constituent Home Nations of the United Kingdom (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland), six of the British Overseas Territories (Anguilla, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Montserrat, Saint Helena and Turks and Caicos Islands), the Crown Dependencies (Guernsey, Isle of Man, and Jersey), along with the Australian territory of Norfolk Island and the New Zealand associated state of Niue. Despite being overseas territories rather than sovereign states, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Caymen Islands send their own delegations to the Olympic Games

Twenty cities in nine countries (counting England, Scotland and Wales as separate Commonwealth Games federations) have hosted the games. Australia has hosted the Commonwealth Games five times (1938, 1962, 1982, 2006 and 2018), more than any other nation. Two cities have hosted Commonwealth Games more than once: Auckland (1950, 1990) and Edinburgh (1970, 1986). The most recent Commonwealth Games, the 22nd or XXII, was held in Birmingham from 28 July to 8 August 2022.

The withdrawal of numerous host cities for the 2026 Commonwealth Games led to speculation that those of 2022 may have been the last, and the confirmation of hosts has become a major issue for the event. The city of Glasgow, host in 2014, has indicated it will act as a host of last resort, if required, to ensure the 2026 Games go ahead.

History
A sporting competition bringing together the members of the British Empire was first proposed by John Astley Cooper in 1891, five years before the first modern Olympic Games, who wrote letters and articles for several periodicals suggesting a "Pan Brittanic, Pan Anglican Contest every four years as a means of increasing goodwill and understanding of the British Empire." John Astley Cooper Committees were formed in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to promote the idea and inspired Pierre de Coubertin to start the international Olympic Games movement.

In 1911, an Inter-Empire Championship was held alongside the Festival of Empire, at The Crystal Palace in London to celebrate the coronation of George V, and were championed by The Earl of Plymouth and Lord Desborough. Teams from Australasia (Australia and New Zealand), Canada, South Africa, and the United Kingdom competed in events for athletics, boxing, swimming and wrestling. Canada won the championships and was presented with a silver cup (gifted by Lord Lonsdale) which was 2 ft high and weighed 340 oz. A correspondent of the Auckland Star criticised the Games, calling them a "grievous disappointment" that were "not worthy of the title of 'Empire Sports'".

While planning for the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam, Amateur Athletic Union of Canada executive J. Howard Crocker spoke with journalist Melville Marks Robinson of The Hamilton Spectator, about hosting an international sporting event in Canada. Robinson proposed and lobbied to host what became the British Empire Games in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1930. Robinson then served as the manager of the Canadian track and field team for the 1930 British Empire Games.

Although there are 56 sovereign states that are members of the Commonwealth of Nations, there are 72 Commonwealth Games Associations. They are divided into six regions (Africa, Americas, Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania) and each has a similar function to the National Olympic Committees in relation with their countries or territories. In some, like India and South Africa, the CGA functions are assumed by their NOCs.

Only six national federations have participated in every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales. Of these six, Australia, England, Canada and New Zealand have each won at least one gold medal in every Games. Australia has been the highest-achieving team for thirteen editions of the Games, England for seven and Canada for one. These three teams also top the all-time Commonwealth Games medal table in that order.

British Empire Games
The 1930 British Empire Games was the first of what later became known as the Commonwealth Games, and was held in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada from 16 to 23 August 1930 and opened by Lord Willingdon. Eleven countries: Australia, Bermuda, British Guyana, Canada, England, Northern Ireland, Newfoundland, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa and Wales, sent a total of 400 athletes to compete in athletics, boxing, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving and wrestling. The opening and closing ceremonies as well as athletics took place at Civic Stadium. The cost of the Games were $97,973. Women competed in only the aquatic events. Canadian triple jumper Gordon Smallacombe won the first ever gold medal in the history of the Games.

The 1934 British Empire Games was the second of what is now known as the Commonwealth Games, held in London, England. The host city was London, with the main venue at Wembley Park, although the track cycling events were in Manchester. The 1934 Games had originally been awarded to Johannesburg, but was given to London instead because of serious concerns about prejudice against Asian and black athletes in South Africa. The affiliation of Irish athletes at the 1934 Games representation remains unclear but there was no official Irish Free State team. Sixteen national teams took part, including new participants Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Southern Rhodesia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The 1938 British Empire Games was the third British Empire Games, which was held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was timed to coincide with Sydney's sesqui-centenary (150 years since the foundation of British settlement in Australia). Held in the Southern Hemisphere for the first time, the III Games opening ceremony took place at the famed Sydney Cricket Ground in front of 40,000 spectators. Fifteen nations participated down under at the Sydney Games involving a total of 464 athletes and 43 officials. Fiji and Ceylon made their debuts. Seven sports were featured in the Sydney Games – athletics, boxing, cycling, lawn bowls, rowing, swimming and diving and wrestling.

The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth edition and was held in Auckland, New Zealand after a twelve-year gap from the third edition of the games. The fourth games was originally awarded to Montreal, Canada and was to be held in 1942, but was cancelled due to the Second World War. The opening ceremony at Eden Park was attended by 40,000 spectators, while nearly 250,000 people attended the Auckland Games. Twelve countries sent a total of 590 athletes to Auckland. Malaya and Nigeria made their first appearances.

British Empire and Commonwealth Games

The fifth edition of the Games, the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, was held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This was the first event since the name change from British Empire Games took effect in 1952, the same year of Queen Elizabeth II's reign. The fifth edition of the Games placed Vancouver on a world stage and featured memorable sporting moments as well as outstanding entertainment, technical innovation and cultural events. The 'Miracle Mile', as it became known, saw both the gold medallist, Roger Bannister of England and silver medallist John Landy of Australia, run sub-four-minute races in an event that was televised live across the world for the first time. Northern Rhodesia and Pakistan made their debuts and both performed well, winning eight and six medals respectively.

The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held in Cardiff, Wales. The sixth edition of the games marked the largest sporting event ever held in Wales and it was the smallest country ever to host a British Empire and Commonwealth Games. Cardiff had to wait twelve years longer than originally scheduled to become host of the Games, as the 1946 event was cancelled because of the Second World War. The Cardiff Games introduced the Queen's Baton Relay, which has been conducted as a prelude to every British Empire and Commonwealth Games ever since. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,122 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games and 23 countries and dependencies won medals, including for the first time, Singapore, Ghana, Kenya and the Isle of Man. In the run up to the Cardiff games, many leading sports stars including Stanley Matthews, Jimmy Hill and Don Revie were signatories in a letter to The Times on 17 July 1958 deploring the presence of white-only South African sports, opposing 'the policy of apartheid' in international sport and defending 'the principle of racial equality which is embodied in the Declaration of the Olympic Games'.

The 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held in Perth, Western Australia. Thirty-five countries sent a total of 863 athletes and 178 officials to Perth. Jersey was among the medal winners for the first time, while British Honduras, Dominica, Papua and New Guinea and St Lucia all made their inaugural Games appearances. Aden also competed by special invitation. Sarawak, North Borneo and Malaya competed for the last time, before taking part in 1966 under the Malaysian flag. In addition, Rhodesia and Nyasaland competed in the Games as an entity for the first and only time.

The 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games was held in Kingston, Jamaica. This was the first time that the Games had been held outside the so-called White Dominions. Thirty-four nations (including South Arabia) competed in the Kingston Games, sending a total of 1,316 athletes and officials.

British Commonwealth Games
The 1970 British Commonwealth Games was held in Edinburgh, Scotland. This was the first time the name British Commonwealth Games was adopted, the first time metric units rather than imperial units were used in events, the first time the games were held in Scotland and also the first time that HM Queen Elizabeth II attended in her capacity as Head of the Commonwealth.

The 1974 British Commonwealth Games was held in Christchurch, New Zealand. The event was officially named The Friendly Games, and was also the first edition to feature a theme song. Following the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, the tenth games at Christchurch were the first multi-sport event to place the safety of participants and spectators as its uppermost requirement. Security guards surrounded the athlete's village and there was an exceptionally high-profile police presence. Only 22 countries succeeded in winning medals from the total haul of 374 medals on offer, but first time winners included Western Samoa, Lesotho and Swaziland (since 2018 named Eswatini). The theme song for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games was called "Join Together".

Commonwealth Games
The 1978 Commonwealth Games was held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. This event was the first to bear the current day name of the Commonwealth Games, and also marked a new high as almost 1,500 athletes from 46 countries took part. They were boycotted by Nigeria in protest against New Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid-era South Africa, as well as by Uganda in protest at alleged Canadian hostilities toward the government of Idi Amin. The 1982 Commonwealth Games was held in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Forty-six nations participated in the Brisbane Games with a new record total of 1,583 athletes and 571 officials. As hosts, Australia headed the medal table leading the way ahead of England, Canada, Scotland and New Zealand respectively. Zimbabwe made its first appearance at the Games, having earlier competed as Southern Rhodesia and as part of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The theme song for the 1982 Commonwealth Games was called "You're Here To Win".

The 1986 Commonwealth Games was held in Edinburgh, Scotland and were the second Games to be held in Edinburgh. Participation at the 1986 Games was affected by a boycott by 32 African, Asian and Caribbean nations in protest at British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's refusal to condemn sporting contacts of apartheid era South Africa in 1985, but the Games rebounded and continued to grow thereafter. Twenty-six nations did attend the second Edinburgh Games, and sent a total of 1,662 athletes and 461 officials. The theme song for the 1986 Commonwealth Games was called "Spirit Of Youth".

The 1990 Commonwealth Games was held in Auckland, New Zealand. It was the fourteenth Commonwealth Games, the third to be hosted by New Zealand and Auckland's second. A new record of 55 nations participated in the second Auckland Games, sending 2,826 athletes and officials. Pakistan returned to the Commonwealth in 1989 after withdrawing in 1972, and competed in the 1990 Games after an absence of twenty years. The theme song for the 1990 Commonwealth Games was called "This Is The Moment".

The 1994 Commonwealth Games was held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. This event was the fourth to take place in Canada. The games marked another point of South Africa's return to the sporting atmosphere following the apartheid era, and over thirty years since the country last competed in the Games in 1958. A former south African territory Namibia made its Commonwealth Games debut. It was also Hong Kong's last appearance at the games before the transfer of sovereignty from Britain to China. Sixty-three nations sent 2,557 athletes and 914 officials. The theme song for the 1994 Commonwealth Games was called "Let Your Spirit Take Flight".

The 1998 Commonwealth Games was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For the first time in its 68-year history, the Commonwealth Games was held in Asia. The event was also the first Games to feature team sports (cricket,rugby 7's,netball and field hockey) along ten pin bowling and squash– an overwhelming success that added large numbers to both participant and TV audience numbers. A new record of 70 countries sent a total of 5,065 athletes and officials to the Kuala Lumpur Games. The top five countries in the medal standing were Australia, England, Canada, Malaysia (who made their best games' performance until that date) and South Africa. Nauru also achieved an impressive haul of three gold medals. Cameroon, Mozambique, Kiribati and Tuvalu debuted. The theme song for the 1998 Commonwealth Games was called "Forever As One".

During the 21st century
The 2002 Commonwealth Games was held in Manchester, England. The event was hosted in England for the first time since 1934 and hosted to coincide with the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II, head of the Commonwealth. In terms of sports and events, the 2002 event was until the 2010 edition the largest Commonwealth Games in history featuring 281 events across 17 sports. The final medal tally was led by Australia, followed by host England and Canada. The 2002 Commonwealth Games had set a new benchmark for hosting the Commonwealth Games and for cities wishing to bid for them with a heavy emphasis on legacy. The theme song for the 2002 Commonwealth Games was called "Where My Heart Will Take Me".

The 2006 Commonwealth Games was held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The only difference between the 2006 games and the 2002 games was the absence of Zimbabwe, which withdrew from the Commonwealth of Nations. For the first time in the history of the Games the Queen's Baton visited every single Commonwealth nation and territory taking part in the Games, a journey of 180000 km. Over 4000 athletes took part in the sporting competitions. Again the Top 3 on the medal table is Australia, followed by England and Canada. The theme song for the 2006 Commonwealth Games was called "Together We Are One".

The 2010 Commonwealth Games was held in Delhi, India. The Games cost $11 billion and is the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever. It was the first time that the Commonwealth Games was held in India, also the first time that a Commonwealth republic hosted the games and the second time it was held in Asia after Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 1998. A total of 6,081 athletes from 71 Commonwealth nations and dependencies competed in 21 sports and 272 events. The final medal tally was led by Australia. The host nation India achieved its best performance ever in any sporting event, finishing second overall. Rwanda made its Games debut. The theme song for the 2010 Commonwealth Games was called "Live, Rise, Ascend, Win".

The 2014 Commonwealth Games was held in Glasgow, Scotland. It was the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland with around 4,950 athletes from 71 different nations and territories competing in 18 different sports, outranking the 1970 and 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, capital city of Scotland. Usain Bolt competed in the 4×100 metres relay of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and set a Commonwealth Games record with his teammates. The Games received acclaim for their organisation, attendance, and the public enthusiasm of the people of Scotland, with the CGF chief executive Mike Hooper hailing them as "the standout games in the history of the movement".

The 2018 Commonwealth Games was held in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, the fifth time Australia hosted the Games. There were an equal number of events for men and women, the first time in history that a major multi-sport event had equality in terms of events.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games was held in Birmingham, England. It was the third Commonwealth Games to be hosted in England, following London 1934 and Manchester 2002. The 2022 Commonwealth Games coincided with the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II and the tenth anniversary of the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2012 Summer Paralympics, both staged in London. The 2022 Commonwealth Games was the last edition to be held under Queen Elizabeth II, before her death on 8 September 2022.

On 16 February 2022, it was announced that the 2026 Commonwealth Games would be held for a record sixth time in Australia, but for the first time they would be decentralised, as the state of Victoria signed as host 'city'. The event were to have four regional clusters mainly focused in Bendigo region, and another three regional centres. The 2026 Commonwealth Games were to be the first games to be held under the reign of King Charles III. It was also confirmed that the Commonwealth Games, scheduled for 2030 were likely to be awarded to Hamilton, Canada. However, in July 2023, the Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced that Victoria would no longer host the 2026 Games, with Alberta, pulling out of their part in a joint Canadian bid for the 2030 edition of the Games shortly after.

Many commentators are now questioning the continuing viability of the Commonwealth Games. The three nations to have hosted the Commonwealth Games the most times are Australia (5), Canada (4) and New Zealand (3). With the 2022 games, England increased its number to three. Seven Games have taken place in the countries within the United Kingdom (Scotland (3) and Wales (1)), two in Asia (Malaysia (1) and India (1)) and one in the Caribbean (Jamaica (1)). The event has been awarded to, but never been held in, Africa, with Durban being stripped of the 2022 Games following financial issues.

Paraplegic Games

The Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were an international, multi-sport event involving athletes with a disability from the Commonwealth countries. The event was sometimes referred to as the Paraplegic Empire Games and British Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. Athletes were generally those with spinal injuries or polio. The event was first held in 1962 and disestablished in 1974. The Games were held in the country hosting the Commonwealth Games for able-bodied athletes. The countries that had hosted the Commonwealth Paraplegic Games were Australia, Jamaica, Scotland and New Zealand in 1962, 1966, 1970 and 1974. Six countries – Australia, England, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales — had been represented at all Commonwealth Paraplegic Games. Australia and England had been the top-ranking nation two times each: 1962, 1974 and 1966, 1970.

Inclusion of disabled athletes in Commonwealth Games
Athletes with a disability were then first included the 1994 Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia when this events was added to athletics and lawn bowls, As at 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, they were included as compulsory events, making them the first fully inclusive international multi-sport games. This meant that results were included in the medal count and the athletes are full members of each country delegation.

During the 2007 General Assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) at Colombo, Sri Lanka, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and CGF signed a co-operative agreement to ensure a formal institutional relationship between the two bodies and secure the future participation of elite athletes with a disability (EAD) in future Commonwealth Games.

Then, IPC President Philip Craven said during the General Assembly:

The co-operation agreement outlined the strong partnership between the IPC and the CGF. It recognised the IPC as the respective sport body and have the function to oversee the co-ordination and delivery of the Commonwealth Games EAD sports programme and committed both organisations to work together in supporting the growth of the Paralympic and Commonwealth Games Movements.

Winter Games

The Commonwealth Winter Games was a multi-sport event comprising winter sports, last held in 1966. Three editions of the Games have been staged. The Winter Games were designed as a counterbalance to the Commonwealth Games, which focuses on summer sports, to accompany the Winter Olympics and Summer Olympic Games. The winter Games were founded by T.D. Richardson. The 1958 Commonwealth Winter Games were held in St. Moritz, Switzerland and was the inaugural games for the winter edition. The 1962 Games were also held in St. Moritz, complementing the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, and the 1966 event was held in St. Moritz as well, following which the idea was discontinued.

Youth Games
The Commonwealth Youth Games is an international multi-sport event organised by the Commonwealth Games Federation. The Games are held every four years with the current Commonwealth Games format. The Commonwealth Games Federation discussed the idea of a Millennium Commonwealth Youth Games in 1997. In 1998, the concept was agreed on for the purpose of providing a Commonwealth multi-sport event for young people born in the calendar year 1986 or later. The first version was held in Edinburgh, Scotland from 10 to 14 August 2000. The age limitation of the athletes is 14 to 18.

Commonwealth Games Federation

The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is the international organisation responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games and Commonwealth Youth Games, and is the foremost authority in matters relating to the games. The Commonwealth House in London, England hosts the headquarters of CGF. The Commonwealth House also hosts the headquarters of the Royal Commonwealth Society and the Commonwealth Local Government Forum.

The Commonwealth Games Movement is made of three major elements:

 * International Federations (IFs) are the governing bodies that supervise a sport at an international level. For example, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) is the international governing body for basketball.
 * Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs) represent and regulate the Commonwealth Games Movement within each country and perform similar functions as the National Olympic Committees. For example, the Commonwealth Games England (CGE) is the CGA of England. There are currently 72 CGAs recognised by the CGF.
 * Organising Committees for the Commonwealth Games (OCCWGs) are temporary committees responsible for the organisation of each Commonwealth Games. OCCWGs are dissolved after each Games once the final report is delivered to the CGF.

English is the official language of the Commonwealth. The other language used at each Commonwealth Games is the language of the host country (or languages, if a country has more than one official language apart from English). Every proclamation (such as the announcement of each country during the parade of nations in the opening ceremony) is spoken in these two (or more) languages. If the host country does this, it is their responsibility to choose the language{s) and their order.

Queen's Baton Relay

The Queen's Baton Relay is a relay around the world held prior to the beginning of the Commonwealth Games. The Baton carries a message from the Head of the Commonwealth. The Relay traditionally begins at Buckingham Palace in London as a part of the city's Commonwealth Day festivities. The Queen entrusts the baton to the first relay runner. At the Opening Ceremony of the Games, the final relay runner hands the baton back to the Queen or her representative, who reads the message aloud to officially open the Games. The Queen's Baton Relay is similar to the Olympic Torch Relay.

The Relay was introduced at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales as the Queen's Baton Relay. Up until, and including, the 1994 Commonwealth Games, the Relay only went through England and the host nation. The Relay for the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was the first to travel to other nations of the Commonwealth.

The Queen's Baton Relay for the 2018 Commonwealth Games held on the Gold Coast, Australia, was the longest in Commonwealth Games history. Covering 230,000 km (150,000 miles) over 388 days, the Baton made its way through the six Commonwealth regions of Africa, the Americas, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia and Oceania. For the first time, the Queen's Baton was presented at the Commonwealth Youth Games during its sixth edition in 2017, which were held in Nassau, Bahamas.

Opening

Various elements frame the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. This ceremony takes place before the events have occurred. The ceremony typically starts with the hoisting of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem. The flag of the Commonwealth Games Federation, flag of the last hosting nation and the next hosting nation are also hosted during the opening ceremony. The host nation then presents artistic displays of music, singing, dance and theatre representative of its culture. The artistic presentations have grown in scale and complexity as successive hosts attempt to provide a ceremony that outlasts its predecessor's in terms of memorability. The opening ceremony of the Delhi Games reportedly cost $70 million, with much of the cost incurred in the artistic segment.

After the artistic portion of the ceremony, the athletes parade into the stadium grouped by nation. The last hosting nation is traditionally the first nation to enter. Nations then enter the stadium alphabetical or continental wise with the host country's athletes being the last to enter. Speeches are given, formally opening the Games. Finally, the King's Baton is brought into the stadium and passed on until it reaches the final baton carrier, often a successful Commonwealth athlete from the host nation, who hands it over to the Head of the Commonwealth or his representative.

Closing

The closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games takes place after all sporting events have concluded. Flag-bearers from each participating country enter the stadium, followed by the athletes who enter together, without any national distinction. The president of the organising committee and the CGF president make their closing speeches and the Games are officially closed. The CGF president also speaks about the conduct of the games. The mayor of the city that organised the Games transfers the CGF flag to the president of the CGF, who then passes it on to the mayor of the city hosting the next Commonwealth Games. The next host nation then also briefly introduces itself with artistic displays of dance and theatre representative of its culture. Many great artists and singers had performed at the ceremonies of the Commonwealth Games.

At the closing ceremony of every Commonwealth Games, the CGF President makes an award and presents a trophy to one athlete who has competed with particular distinction and honour both in terms of athletic performance and overall contribution to his or her team. Athletes are nominated by their Commonwealth Games Association at the end of the final day of competition and the winner is selected by a panel comprising the CGF President and representatives from each of the six Commonwealth Regions. The 'David Dixon Award' as it is called was introduced in Manchester 2002, after the late David Dixon, former Honorary Secretary of the CGF, in honour of his monumental contribution to Commonwealth sport for many years.

Medal presentation
A medal ceremony is held after each event is concluded. The winner, second and third-place competitors or teams stand on top of a three-tiered rostrum to be awarded their respective medals. After the medals are given out by a CGF member, the national flags of the three medallists are raised while the national anthem of the gold medallist's country plays. Volunteering citizens of the host country also act as hosts during the medal ceremonies, as they aid the officials who present the medals and act as flag-bearers.

Anthems
"God Save the King" is an official or national anthem of multiple Commonwealth countries and dependent territories. As a result, and due to the countries of the United Kingdom competing individually, its use is prohibited during official events, medal ceremonies or before matches in team events. With the revision of this rule made before the 2010 Games, some national anthems used were changed and in some cases they differ from a currently-eligible country's national or official anthem(s):

Medal table
*Note : Nations in italics no longer participate at the Commonwealth Games.
 * Updated after 2022 Commonwealth Games.

 * Totals for Ghana include all medals won as
 * Totals for Zimbabwe include all medals won as
 * Totals for Zambia include all medals won as
 * Totals for Sri Lanka include all medals won as
 * Totals for Guyana include all medals won as

Commonwealth sports
Unlike other sporting events, the Commonwealth Games have a flexible sporting program that respects the infrastructure and demands of the host city. This is also reflected in its holding dates, which may vary according to the weather conditions of each host city.Therefore, the program for each edition varies. Between 1930 and 1994, only individual events were part of the program and it was only in 1998 that authorization was given for the addition of team sports. It is common for each edition since then to have a list of seven to ten mandatory sports that must be played in this edition and must be approved 4 years in advance. Thus, the minimum number of sports per edition is 10 and the maximum is of 17. However, local demands can also increase the number of sports contested. Notable cases are freestyle wrestling in Delhi 2010 and beach volleyball in Gold Coast 2018. Special exceptions can also be made, such as the one in the last edition held in Birmingham, England, in which 3 extra sports were added to the program. The current rules also determine gender parity, whereby men and women have an equal (or broadly equal) share of events.

There are a total of 23 sports (with three multi-disciplinary sports) and a ten para-sports which are approved by the Commonwealth Games Federation.

In 2015, the Commonwealth Games Federation agreed large changes to the programme which increased the number of core sports, whilst removing a number of optionals, those removed are listed below.

Sports such as the following are sports which have been analysed by the Commonwealth Games Federation but which are deemed to need expansion in areas such as participation levels within the Commonwealth both at a national (International Federation) and grassroots athletics level, Marketability, Television Rights, Equity, and Hosting Expenses, per Regulation 6 of the Commonwealth Games Constitution; host nations may not pick these sports for their program until the Federation's requirements are fulfilled.

Participation
Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland, and Wales. Australia has been the highest scoring team for thirteen games, England for seven, and Canada for one.

[[File:Commonwealth Games years participants.PNG|upright=2.75|thumb|alt=Locations of the games, and participating countries|

• Host cities and year of games |center]]

Commonwealth nations yet to send teams
Very few Commonwealth nations and dependencies have yet to take part:
 * Gabon and Togo, the most recent members to join the Commonwealth in 2022, became part of the Commonwealth Games Federation in 2023 and are expected to make their debut in the 2026 edition.
 * Tokelau, a dependency of New Zealand, was expected to take part for the first time at the 2010 Games in Delhi but did not do so. In 2018, Tokelau was noted to be ineligible for the Commonwealth Games until it became affiliated to at least five international sport federations.
 * Christmas Island and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, both external territories of Australia like Norfolk Island, have not yet sent teams of their own.
 * The Pitcairn Islands, a British Overseas Territory, does not compete due to its small population (around 50 people).

Other inhabited territories and autonomous regions within the Commonwealth, such as Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha (parts of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha), Nevis (a federal entity of the Federation of Saint Kitts and Nevis), Rodrigues (an outer island of Mauritius), and Zanzibar (a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania), are not considered to be separate associated or overseas territories by the Commonwealth and so are unlikely to be eligible.

Rejected participants
Campaigners from the English county of Cornwall asked the Commonwealth Games Federation to allow Cornwall to participate independently in the 2006 Games, but were rejected by the CGF, which stated that "Cornwall is no more than an English county" and advised Cornwall athletes to compete on the England team. Cornwall political party Mebyon Kernow unsuccessfully called for a Cornwall team at the 2022 Games.

The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus applied to take part in the 2006 Games, but was rejected due to a lack of international recognition.

Host city contract
The 1934 British Empire Games, originally awarded in 1930 to Johannesburg, were moved to London after South Africa's pre-apartheid government refused to allow participants of colour.

The 2022 Commonwealth Games were originally awarded to Durban on 2 September 2015, at the CGF General Assembly in Auckland. It was reported in February 2017 that Durban may be unable to host the games due to financial constraints. On 13 March 2017, the CGF stripped Durban of their rights to host and reopened the bidding process for the 2022 games. Many cities from Australia, Canada, England and Malaysia expressed interest to host the games. However, the CGF received only one official bid and that was from Birmingham, England. On 21 December 2017, Birmingham was awarded for the 2022 Games as Durban's replacement host.

The state of Victoria, Australia was selected to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games. On 18 July 2023, the Premier of Victoria Dan Andrews announced the cancellation of the event in Victoria. Premier Andrews cited a significant increase in forecast cost for the reason suggesting the initial estimate of A$2.6 billion was likely to be closer to A$6–7 billion.

Boycotts
Much like the Olympic Games, the Commonwealth Games have also experienced boycotts:

Nigeria boycotted the 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton in protest of New Zealand's sporting contacts with apartheid-era South Africa. Uganda also stayed away, in protest of alleged Canadian hostility towards the government of Idi Amin.

During the 1986 Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh, a majority of the Commonwealth nations staged a boycott, so that the Games appeared to be a whites-only event. Thirty two of the eligible fifty nine countries—largely African, Asian and Caribbean states—stayed away because of the Thatcher government's policy of keeping Britain's sporting links with apartheid South Africa in preference to participating in the general sporting boycott of that country. Consequently, Edinburgh 1986 witnessed the lowest number of athletes since Auckland 1950. The boycotting nations were Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Belize, Cyprus, Dominica, Gambia, Ghana, Guyana, Grenada, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sierra Leone, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, Turks and Caicos Islands, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Bermuda was a particularly late withdrawal, as its athletes appeared in the opening ceremony and in the opening day of competition before the Bermuda Olympic Association decided to formally withdraw.

Protests
The 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane took place amid mass protests for Australian Aboriginal rights. The controversial Joh Bjelke-Petersen state government had been repeatedly been challenged by the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties over the restrictions it placed on freedom of speech, freedom of association and freedom to protest. The Government of Queensland did not recognize Aboriginal land rights. Queensland also placed severe legal restrictions on Aboriginal people through the "Aboriginal Act 1971".

Aboriginal activists including Gary Foley planned mass demonstrations in Brisbane during the week of the games, dubbed the "Stolenwealth Games". In response, Queensland passed "The Commonwealth Games Act 1982" to restrict protests in or near the event. When Aboriginal activists and their supporters marched anyway, hundreds were arrested. The protests were recorded in the documentary "Guniwaya Ngigu".

Further "Stolenwealth Games" protests took place during the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.

Financial implications
The estimated cost of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi was US$11 billion, according to Business Today magazine. The initial total budget estimated by the Indian Olympic Association in 2003 was US$250 million. In 2010, however, the official total budget soon escalated to an estimated US$1.8 billion, a figure which excluded non-sports-related infrastructure development. The 2010 Commonwealth Games is reportedly the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever.

An analysis conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers on the 2002, 2006, 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games found that each dollar spent by governments on operating costs, games venues and athletes' villages generated US$2 for the host city or state economies, with an average of more than 18,000 jobs generated by each of the events. Additionally, all four cities enjoyed long-term improvements to transport or other infrastructure through hosting the Games, while some also benefited from the revival of struggling precincts.

Notable competitors
Lawn bowler Willie Wood from Scotland was the first competitor to have competed in seven Commonwealth Games, from 1974 to 2002, a record equalled in 2014 by Isle of Man cyclist Andrew Roche. They have both been surpassed by David Calvert of Northern Ireland who in 2018 attended his 11th games.

Sitiveni Rabuka was a Prime Minister of Fiji. Beforehand he represented Fiji in shot put, hammer throw, discus and the decathlon at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games held in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Greg Yelavich, a sports shooter from New Zealand, has won 12 medals in seven games from 1986 to 2010.

Lawn bowler Robert Weale has represented Wales in 8 Commonwealth Games, 1986–2014, winning 2 gold, 3 silver and 1 bronze.

Nauruan weightlifter Marcus Stephen won twelve medals at the Games between 1990 and 2002, of which seven gold, and was elected President of Nauru in 2007. His performance has helped place Nauru (the smallest independent state in the Commonwealth, at 21 km2 and with a population of fewer than 9,400 in 2011) in twenty-second place on the all-time Commonwealth Games medal table.

Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe has won 10 Commonwealth Games gold medals and 1 silver medal. At the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, he won 4 gold medals. At the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, he won 6 gold medals and 1 silver medal.

Chad le Clos, South Africa's most decorated swimmer, has won 18 medals from four Commonwealth Games (2010, 2014, 2018 & 2022), seven of which are gold. At the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, he won two gold medals, one silver medal, and four bronze medals. At the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, he won three golds, a silver and a bronze.

English actor Jason Statham took part as a diver in the 1990 Commonwealth Games.

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, Australian singer Cody Simpson won a gold medal as a swimmer at the men's 4 × 100 metre freestyle relay.

title: Commonwealth Games


text:
Hartford (disambiguation)

Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut.

Hartford may also refer to:

England

 * Hartford, Cambridgeshire, a village near Huntingdon
 * Hartford, Cheshire
 * Hartford, Somerset
 * Hartford End, Essex

United States

 * Hartford, Alabama
 * Hartford, Arkansas
 * Hartford, Connecticut
 * Hartford, Georgia
 * Hartford, Illinois
 * Hartford City, Indiana
 * Hartford, Iowa
 * Hartford, Kansas
 * Hartford, Kentucky
 * Hartford, Maine
 * Hartford, Michigan
 * Hartford, Missouri
 * Hartford, New Jersey
 * Hartford, New York
 * Hartford, Ohio, in Licking County
 * Hartford, Trumbull County, Ohio
 * Hartford, Providence, Rhode Island, a neighborhood
 * Hartford, South Dakota
 * Hartford, Tennessee
 * Hartford, Vermont, a town
 * Hartford (village), Vermont, in the town
 * Hartford, West Virginia
 * Hartford, Wisconsin, a city
 * Hartford (town), Wisconsin, neighboring the city

Other uses

 * Hartford (surname)
 * The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc., a company based in Hartford, Connecticut
 * USS Hartford (1858), Admiral David Farragut's flagship in the American Civil War
 * University of Hartford, a private university located in West Hartford, Connecticut
 * Hartford Blues, American football team that played in the NFL in 1926
 * Hartford Hawks, the athletic program of the University of Hartford
 * Pope-Hartford, American manufacturer of automobiles between 1904 and 1914.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Hartford (disambiguation)


text:
Cuneiform (disambiguation)

Cuneiform is an ancient writing system originating in Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform (from the Latin word for "wedge-shaped") may also refer to:
 * Cuneiform bones, in the human foot
 * Cuneiform cartilages, in the human larynx
 * Cuneiform Records, a music record label
 * CuneiForm (software), an optical character recognition tool
 * Cuneiform (Unicode block)
 * Cuneiform (programming language)

title: Cuneiform (disambiguation)


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ReiserFS

ReiserFS is a general-purpose, journaling file system initially designed and implemented by a team at Namesys led by Hans Reiser and licensed under GPLv2. Introduced in version 2.4.1 of the Linux kernel, it was the first journaling file system to be included in the standard kernel. ReiserFS was the default file system in Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise until Novell decided to move to ext3 for future releases on October 12, 2006.

ReiserFS version 3.6, now occasionally referred to as Reiser3, introduced a new on-disk format allowing larger filesizes. Namesys considered ReiserFS stable and feature-complete and ceased development on it to concentrate on its successor, Reiser4, though it continued to release security updates and critical bug fixes. Namesys went out of business in 2008 after Reiser's conviction for murder. The product is now maintained as open source by volunteers. The reiserfsprogs 3.6.27 were released on 25 July 2017.

ReiserFS is currently supported on Linux without quota support. It has been discussed for removal from the Linux kernel since early 2022 due to a lack of maintenance upstream, and technical issues inherent to the filesystem, such as suffering from the year 2038 problem;  it was deprecated in Linux 5.18, and marked as obsolete in Linux 6.6. It is planned for removal in 2025.

Features
At the time of its introduction, ReiserFS offered features that had not been available in existing Linux file systems. These include tail packing—a scheme to reduce internal fragmentation at cost of performance. Reiser4 may have improved this by packing tails where it does not negatively affect performance.

Design
ReiserFS stores file metadata ("stat items"), directory entries ("directory items"), inode block lists ("indirect items"), and tails of files ("direct items") in a single, combined B+ tree keyed by a universal object ID. Disk blocks allocated to nodes of the tree are "formatted internal blocks". Blocks for leaf nodes (in which items are packed end-to-end) are "formatted leaf blocks". All other blocks are "unformatted blocks" containing file contents. Directory items with too many entries or indirect items which are too long to fit into a node spill over into the right leaf neighbour. Block allocation is tracked by free space bitmaps in fixed locations.

By contrast, ext2 and other Berkeley FFS-like file systems of that time simply used a fixed formula for computing inode locations, hence limiting the number of files they may contain. Most such file systems also store directories as simple lists of entries, which makes directory lookups and updates linear time operations and degrades performance on very large directories. The single B+ tree design in ReiserFS avoids both of these problems due to better scalability properties.

Performance
Compared with ext2 and ext3 in version 2.4 of the Linux kernel, when dealing with files under 4 KiB and with tail packing enabled, ReiserFS may be faster.

Before Linux 2.6.33, ReiserFS heavily used the big kernel lock (BKL)—a global kernel-wide lock—which does not scale well for systems with multiple cores, as the critical code parts are only ever executed by one core at a time.

Usage
ReiserFS was the default file system in SuSE Linux since version 6.4 (released in 2000), until switching to ext3 in SUSE Linux Enterprise 10.2 and openSUSE 11, announced in 2006.

Jeff Mahoney of SUSE wrote a post on 14 September 2006 proposing to move from ReiserFS to ext3 for the default installation file system. The reasons he mentioned included scalability, "performance problems with extended attributes and ACLs", "a small and shrinking development community", and that "Reiser4 is not an incremental update and requires a reformat, which is unreasonable for most people." On October 4 he wrote a response comment on a blog in order to clear up some issues. He wrote that his proposal for the switch was unrelated to Hans Reiser being under trial for murder. Mahoney wrote he "was concerned that people would make a connection where none existed" and that "the timing is entirely coincidental and the motivation is unrelated."

Criticism
Some directory operations (including unlink(2)) are not synchronous on ReiserFS, which can result in data corruption with applications relying heavily on file-based locks (such as mail transfer agents like qmail and Postfix ) if the machine halts before it has synchronized the disk.

There are no programs to specifically defragment a ReiserFS file system, although tools have been written to automatically copy the contents of fragmented files hoping that more contiguous blocks of free space can be found. However, a "repacker" tool was planned for the next Reiser4 file system to deal with file fragmentation. Fragmentation is still an issue with SSD regardless of file system.

fsck
ReiserFS 3's fsck is capable of rebuilding the whole tree as part of the rescue in case of its total corruption. This action has to be explicitly initiated by administrator and is not part of normal operation. Predictably, the process is destructive and may further corrupt existing files or introduce new entries with unexpected contents, which has been criticized as a less than optimal method.

ReiserFS v3 images should not be stored on a ReiserFS v3 partition (e.g. backups or disk images for emulators) without transforming them (e.g., by compressing or encrypting) in order to avoid confusing the rebuild. Reformatting an existing ReiserFS v3 partition can also leave behind data that could confuse the rebuild operation and make files from the old system reappear. This also allows malicious users to intentionally store files that will confuse the rebuilder. As the metadata is always in a consistent state after a file system check, corruption here means that contents of files are merged in unexpected ways with the contained file system's metadata. This is similar to the FSID problem in btrfs. The ReiserFS successor, Reiser4, fixes this problem.

ReiserFS in versions of the Linux kernel before 2.4.16 were considered unstable by Namesys and not recommended for production use, especially in conjunction with NFS.

Early implementations of ReiserFS (prior to that in Linux 2.6.2) were also susceptible to out-of-order write hazards. But the current journaling implementation in ReiserFS is now on par with that of ext3's "ordered" journaling level.

title: ReiserFS


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NTFS

New Technology File System (NTFS) is a proprietary journaling file system developed by Microsoft. Starting with Windows NT 3.1, it is the default file system of the Windows NT family. It superseded File Allocation Table (FAT) as the preferred filesystem on Windows and is also supported in Linux and BSD. NTFS reading and writing support is provided using a free and open-source kernel implementation known as NTFS3 in Linux and the NTFS-3G driver in BSD. Using the  command, Windows can convert FAT32/16/12 into NTFS without needing to rewrite all files. NTFS uses several files typically hidden from the user to store metadata about other files stored on the drive which can help improve speed and performance when reading data. Unlike FAT and High Performance File System (HPFS), NTFS supports access control lists (ACLs), filesystem encryption, transparent compression, sparse files and file system journaling. NTFS also supports shadow copy to allow backups of a system while it is running, but the functionality of the shadow copies varies between different versions of Windows.

History
In the mid-1980s, Microsoft and IBM formed a joint project to create the next generation of graphical operating system; the result was OS/2 and HPFS. Because Microsoft disagreed with IBM on many important issues, they eventually separated; OS/2 remained an IBM project and Microsoft worked to develop Windows NT and NTFS.

The HPFS file system for OS/2 contained several important new features. When Microsoft created their new operating system, they borrowed many of these concepts for NTFS. The original NTFS developers were Tom Miller, Gary Kimura, Brian Andrew, and David Goebel.

Probably as a result of this common ancestry, HPFS and NTFS use the same disk partition identification type code (07). Using the same Partition ID Record Number is highly unusual, since there were dozens of unused code numbers available, and other major file systems have their own codes. For example, FAT has more than nine (one each for FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, etc.). Algorithms identifying the file system in a partition type 07 must perform additional checks to distinguish between HPFS and NTFS.

Versions
Microsoft has released five versions of NTFS:

The NTFS.sys version number (e.g. v5.0 in Windows 2000) is based on the operating system version; it should not be confused with the NTFS version number (v3.1 since Windows XP).

Although subsequent versions of Windows added new file system-related features, they did not change NTFS itself. For example, Windows Vista implemented NTFS symbolic links, Transactional NTFS, partition shrinking, and self-healing. NTFS symbolic links are a new feature in the file system; all the others are new operating system features that make use of NTFS features already in place.

Scalability
NTFS is optimized for 4 KB clusters, but supports a maximum cluster size of 2MB. (Earlier implementations support up to 64KB) The maximum NTFS volume size that the specification can support is 264 − 1 clusters, but not all implementations achieve this theoretical maximum, as discussed below.

The maximum NTFS volume size implemented in Windows XP Professional is 232 − 1 clusters, partly due to partition table limitations. For example, using 64KB clusters, the maximum size Windows XP NTFS volume is 256TB minus 64KB. Using the default cluster size of 4KB, the maximum NTFS volume size is 16TB minus 4KB. Both of these are vastly higher than the 128GB limit in Windows XP SP1. Many BIOS firmware limit the Master Boot Records (MBR) partitions size to 2 TiB, which is the limit for hard drives with a 512 bytes physical sector size, although for a 4 KiB physical sector the MBR partition size limit is 16 TiB. An alternative is to use multiple GUID Partition Table (GPT or "dynamic") volumes for be combined to create a single NTFS volume larger than 2 TiB. Booting from a GPT volume to a Windows environment in a Microsoft supported way requires a system with Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and 64-bit support. GPT data disks are supported on systems with BIOS.

The NTFS maximum theoretical limit on the size of individual files is 16EB (16 × 10246 or 264 bytes) minus 1KB, which totals 18,446,744,073,709,550,592 bytes. With Windows 10 version 1709 and Windows Server 2019, the maximum implemented file size is 8PB minus 2MB or 9,007,199,252,643,840 bytes.

Windows
While the different NTFS versions are for the most part fully forward- and backward-compatible, there are technical considerations for mounting newer NTFS volumes in older versions of Microsoft Windows. This affects dual-booting, and external portable hard drives. For example, attempting to use an NTFS partition with "Previous Versions" (Volume Shadow Copy) on an operating system that does not support it will result in the contents of those previous versions being lost. A Windows command-line utility called convert.exe can convert supporting file systems to NTFS, including HPFS (only on Windows NT 3.1, 3.5, and 3.51), FAT16 and FAT32 (on Windows 2000 and later).

FreeBSD
FreeBSD 3.2 released in May 1999 included read-only NTFS support written by Semen Ustimenko. This implementation was ported to NetBSD by Christos Zoulas and Jaromir Dolecek and released with NetBSD 1.5 in December 2000. The FreeBSD implementation of NTFS was also ported to OpenBSD by Julien Bordet and offers native read-only NTFS support by default on i386 and amd64 platforms

Linux
Linux kernel versions 2.1.74 and later include a driver written by Martin von Löwis which has the ability to read NTFS partitions; kernel versions 2.5.11 and later contain a new driver written by Anton Altaparmakov (University of Cambridge) and Richard Russon which supports file read. The ability to write to files was introduced with kernel version 2.6.15 in 2006 which allows users to write to existing files but does not allow the creation of new ones. Paragon's NTFS driver (see below) has been merged into kernel version 5.15, and it supports read/write on normal, compressed and sparse files, as well as journal replaying.

NTFS-3G is a free GPL-licensed FUSE implementation of NTFS that was initially developed as a Linux kernel driver by Szabolcs Szakacsits. It was re-written as a FUSE program to work on other systems that FUSE supports like macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, QNX, and Haiku and allows reading and writing to NTFS partitions. A performance enhanced commercial version of NTFS-3G, called "Tuxera NTFS for Mac", is also available from the NTFS-3G developers.

Captive NTFS, a 'wrapping' driver that uses Windows' own driver ntfs.sys, exists for Linux. It was built as a Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) program and released under the GPL but work on Captive NTFS ceased in 2006.

Linux kernel versions 5.15 onwards carry NTFS3, a fully functional NTFS Read-Write driver which works on NTFS versions up to 3.1 and is maintained primarily by the Paragon Software Group.

macOS
Mac OS X 10.3 included Ustimenko's read-only implementation of NTFS from FreeBSD. Then in 2006 Apple hired Anton Altaparmakov to write a new NTFS implementation for Mac OS X 10.6. Native NTFS write support is included in 10.6 and later, but is not activated by default, although workarounds do exist to enable the functionality. However, user reports indicate the functionality is unstable and tends to cause kernel panics.

Paragon Software Group sells a read-write driver named NTFS for Mac OS X, which is also included on some models of Seagate hard drives.

OS/2
The NetDrive package for OS/2 (and derivatives such as eComStation and ArcaOS) supports a plugin which allows read and write access to NTFS volumes.

DOS
There is a free-for-personal-use read/write driver for MS-DOS by Avira called "NTFS4DOS".

Ahead Software developed a "NTFSREAD" driver (version 1.200) for DR-DOS 7.0x between 2002 and 2004. It was part of their Nero Burning ROM software.

Security
NTFS uses access control lists and user-level encryption to help secure user data.

Access control lists (ACLs)
In NTFS, each file or folder is assigned a security descriptor that defines its owner and contains two access control lists (ACLs). The first ACL, called discretionary access control list (DACL), defines exactly what type of interactions (e.g. reading, writing, executing or deleting) are allowed or forbidden by which user or groups of users. For example, files in the C:\Program Files folder may be read and executed by all users but modified only by a user holding administrative privileges. Windows Vista adds mandatory access control info to DACLs. DACLs are the primary focus of User Account Control in Windows Vista and later.

The second ACL, called system access control list (SACL), defines which interactions with the file or folder are to be audited and whether they should be logged when the activity is successful, failed or both. For example, auditing can be enabled on sensitive files of a company, so that its managers get to know when someone tries to delete them or make a copy of them, and whether they succeed.

Encryption
Encrypting File System (EFS) provides user-transparent encryption of any file or folder on an NTFS volume. EFS works in conjunction with the EFS service, Microsoft's CryptoAPI and the EFS File System Run-Time Library (FSRTL). EFS works by encrypting a file with a bulk symmetric key (also known as the File Encryption Key, or FEK), which is used because it takes a relatively small amount of time to encrypt and decrypt large amounts of data than if an asymmetric key cipher is used. The symmetric key that is used to encrypt the file is then encrypted with a public key that is associated with the user who encrypted the file, and this encrypted data is stored in an alternate data stream of the encrypted file. To decrypt the file, the file system uses the private key of the user to decrypt the symmetric key that is stored in the data stream. It then uses the symmetric key to decrypt the file. Because this is done at the file system level, it is transparent to the user. Also, in case of a user losing access to their key, support for additional decryption keys has been built into the EFS system, so that a recovery agent can still access the files if needed. NTFS-provided encryption and NTFS-provided compression are mutually exclusive; however, NTFS can be used for one and a third-party tool for the other.

The support of EFS is not available in Basic, Home, and MediaCenter versions of Windows, and must be activated after installation of Professional, Ultimate, and Server versions of Windows or by using enterprise deployment tools within Windows domains.

Journaling
NTFS is a journaling file system and uses the NTFS Log ($LogFile) to record metadata changes to the volume. It is a feature that FAT does not provide and is critical for NTFS to ensure that its complex internal data structures will remain consistent in case of system crashes or data moves performed by the defragmentation API, and allow easy rollback of uncommitted changes to these critical data structures when the volume is remounted. Notably affected structures are the volume allocation bitmap, modifications to MFT records such as moves of some variable-length attributes stored in MFT records and attribute lists, and indices for directories and security descriptors.

The ($LogFile) format has evolved through several versions:

The incompatibility of the $LogFile versions implemented by Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11 prevents Windows 7 (and earlier versions of Windows) from recognizing version 2.0 of the $LogFile. Backward compatibility is provided by downgrading the $LogFile to version 1.1 when an NTFS volume is cleanly dismounted. It is again upgraded to version 2.0 when mounting on a compatible version of Windows. However, when hibernating to disk in the logoff state (a.k.a. Hybrid Boot or Fast Boot, which is enabled by default), mounted file systems are not dismounted, and thus the $LogFiles of any active file systems are not downgraded to version 1.1. The inability to process version 2.0 of the $LogFile by versions of Windows older than 8.0 results in an unnecessary invocation of the CHKDSK disk repair utility. This is particularly a concern in a multi-boot scenario involving pre- and post-8.0 versions of Windows, or when frequently moving a storage device between older and newer versions. A Windows Registry setting exists to prevent the automatic upgrade of the $LogFile to the newer version. The problem can also be dealt with by disabling Hybrid Boot.

The USN Journal (Update Sequence Number Journal) is a system management feature that records (in $Extend\$UsnJrnl) changes to files, streams and directories on the volume, as well as their various attributes and security settings. The journal is made available for applications to track changes to the volume. This journal can be enabled or disabled on non-system volumes.

Hard links
The hard link feature allows different file names to directly refer to the same file contents. Hard links may link only to files in the same volume, because each volume has its own MFT. Hard links were originally included to support the POSIX subsystem in Windows NT.

Although hard links use the same MFT record (inode) which records file metadata such as file size, modification date, and attributes, NTFS also caches this data in the directory entry as a performance enhancement. This means that when listing the contents of a directory using FindFirstFile/FindNextFile family of APIs, (equivalent to the POSIX opendir/readdir APIs) you will also receive this cached information, in addition to the name and inode. However, you may not see up-to-date information, as this information is only guaranteed to be updated when a file is closed, and then only for the directory from which the file was opened. This means where a file has multiple names via hard links, updating a file via one name does not update the cached data associated with the other name. You can always obtain up-to-date data using GetFileInformationByHandle (which is the true equivalent of POSIX stat function). This can be done using a handle which has no access to the file itself (passing zero to CreateFile for dwDesiredAccess), and closing this handle has the incidental effect of updating the cached information.

Windows uses hard links to support short (8.3) filenames in NTFS. Operating system support is needed because there are legacy applications that can work only with 8.3 filenames, but support can be disabled. In this case, an additional filename record and directory entry is added, but both 8.3 and long file name are linked and updated together, unlike a regular hard link.

The NTFS file system has a limit of 1024 hard links on a file.

Alternate data stream (ADS)
Alternate data streams allow more than one data stream to be associated with a filename (a fork), using the format "filename:streamname" (e.g., "text.txt:extrastream").

NTFS Streams were introduced in Windows NT 3.1, to enable Services for Macintosh (SFM) to store resource forks. Although current versions of Windows Server no longer include SFM, third-party Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) products (such as GroupLogic's ExtremeZ-IP) still use this feature of the file system.

A small ADS named "Zone.Identifier" is added by Internet Explorer and by most browsers to mark files downloaded from external sites as possibly unsafe to run; the local shell would then require user confirmation before opening them. When the user indicates that they no longer want this confirmation dialog, this ADS is deleted. This functionality is also known as "Mark of the Web".

Alternate streams are not listed in Windows Explorer, and their size is not included in the file's size. When the file is copied or moved to another file system without ADS support the user is warned that alternate data streams cannot be preserved. No such warning is typically provided if the file is attached to an e-mail, or uploaded to a website. Thus, using alternate streams for critical data may cause problems. Microsoft provides a tool called Streams to view streams on a selected volume. Starting with Windows PowerShell 3.0, it is possible to manage ADS natively with six cmdlets: Add-Content, Clear-Content, Get-Content, Get-Item, Remove-Item, Set-Content.

Malware has used alternate data streams to hide code. As a result, malware scanners and other special tools now check for alternate data streams.

File compression
Compression is enabled on a per-folder or per-file basis by setting the 'compressed' attribute. When compression is enabled on a folder, any files moved or saved to that folder will be automatically compressed using LZNT1 algorithm (a variant of LZ77). The compression algorithm is designed to support cluster sizes of up to 4 KB; when the cluster size is greater than 4 KB on an NTFS volume, NTFS compression is not available. Data is compressed in 16-cluster chunks (up to 64 KB in size); if the compression reduces 64KB of data to 60KB or less, NTFS treats the unneeded 4KB pages like empty sparse file clusters—they are not written. This allows for reasonable random-access times as the OS merely has to follow the chain of fragments.

Compression works best with files that have repetitive content, are seldom written, are usually accessed sequentially, and are not themselves compressed. Single-user systems with limited hard disk space can benefit from NTFS compression for small files, from 4KB to 64KB or more, depending on compressibility. Files smaller than approximately 900 bytes are stored within the directory entry of the MFT.

Advantages
Users of fast multi-core processors will find improvements in application speed by compressing their applications and data as well as a reduction in space used. Even when SSD controllers already compress data, there is still a reduction in I/Os since less data is transferred.

According to research by Microsoft's NTFS Development team, 50–60GB is a reasonable maximum size for a compressed file on an NTFS volume with a 4KB (default) cluster (block) size. This reasonable maximum size decreases sharply for volumes with smaller cluster sizes.

Disadvantages
Large compressible files become highly fragmented since every chunk smaller than 64KB becomes a fragment. Flash memory, such as SSD drives do not have the head movement delays and high access time of mechanical hard disk drives, so fragmentation has only a smaller penalty.

If system files that are needed at boot time (such as drivers, NTLDR, winload.exe, or BOOTMGR) are compressed, the system may fail to boot correctly, because decompression filters are not yet loaded. Later editions of Windows do not allow important system files to be compressed.

System compression
Since Windows 10, Microsoft has introduced new file compression scheme based on the XPRESS algorithm with 4K/8K/16K block size and the LZX algorithm; both are variants of LZ77 updated with Huffman entropy coding and range coding, which LZNT1 lacked. These compression algorithms were taken from Windows Imaging Format (WIM file).

The new compression scheme is used by CompactOS feature, which reduces disk usage by compressing Windows system files. CompactOS is not an extension of NTFS file compression and does not use the 'compressed' attribute; instead, it sets a reparse point on each compressed file with a WOF (Windows Overlay Filter) tag, but the actual data is stored in an alternate data stream named "WofCompressedData", which is decompressed on-the-fly by a WOF filesystem filter driver, and the main file is an empty sparse file. This design is meant purely for read-only access, so any writes to compressed files result in an automatic decompression.

CompactOS compression is intended for OEMs who prepare OS images with the /compact flag of the DISM tool in Windows ADK, but it can also be manually turned on per file with the /exe flag of the compact command. CompactOS algorithm avoids file fragmentation by writing compressed data in contiguously allocated chunks, unlike core NTFS compression.

CompactOS file compression is an improved version of WIMBoot feature introduced in Windows 8.1. WIMBoot reduces Windows disk usage by keeping system files in a compressed WIM image on a separate hidden disk partition. Similarly to CompactOS, Windows system directories only contain sparse files marked by a reparse point with a WOF tag, and Windows Overlay Filter driver decompresses file contents on-the-fly from the WIM image. WIMBoot is less effective than CompactOS though, as new updated versions of system files need to be written to the system partition, consuming disk space.

Sparse files

Sparse files are files interspersed with empty segments for which no actual storage space is used. To the applications, the file looks like an ordinary file with empty regions seen as regions filled with zeros; the file system maintains an internal list of such regions for each sparse file. A sparse file does not necessarily include sparse zeros areas; the "sparse file" attribute just means that the file is allowed to have them.

Database applications, for instance, may use sparse files. As with compressed files, the actual sizes of sparse files are not taken into account when determining quota limits.

Volume Shadow Copy
The Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) keeps historical versions of files and folders on NTFS volumes by copying old, newly overwritten data to shadow copy via copy-on-write technique. The user may later request an earlier version to be recovered. This also allows data backup programs to archive files currently in use by the file system.

Windows Vista also introduced persistent shadow copies for use with System Restore and Previous Versions features. Persistent shadow copies, however, are deleted when an older operating system mounts that NTFS volume. This happens because the older operating system does not understand the newer format of persistent shadow copies.

Transactions
As of Windows Vista, applications can use Transactional NTFS (TxF) to group multiple changes to files together into a single transaction. The transaction will guarantee that either all of the changes happen, or none of them do, and that no application outside the transaction will see the changes until they are committed.

It uses similar techniques as those used for Volume Shadow Copies (i.e. copy-on-write) to ensure that overwritten data can be safely rolled back, and a CLFS log to mark the transactions that have still not been committed, or those that have been committed but still not fully applied (in case of system crash during a commit by one of the participants).

Transactional NTFS does not restrict transactions to just the local NTFS volume, but also includes other transactional data or operations in other locations such as data stored in separate volumes, the local registry, or SQL databases, or the current states of system services or remote services. These transactions are coordinated network-wide with all participants using a specific service, the DTC, to ensure that all participants will receive same commit state, and to transport the changes that have been validated by any participant (so that the others can invalidate their local caches for old data or rollback their ongoing uncommitted changes). Transactional NTFS allows, for example, the creation of network-wide consistent distributed file systems, including with their local live or offline caches.

Microsoft now advises against using TxF: "Microsoft strongly recommends developers utilize alternative means" since "TxF may not be available in future versions of Microsoft Windows".

Quotas
Disk quotas were introduced in NTFS v3. They allow the administrator of a computer that runs a version of Windows that supports NTFS to set a threshold of disk space that users may use. It also allows administrators to keep track of how much disk space each user is using. An administrator may specify a certain level of disk space that a user may use before they receive a warning, and then deny access to the user once they hit their upper limit of space. Disk quotas do not take into account NTFS's transparent file-compression, should this be enabled. Applications that query the amount of free space will also see the amount of free space left to the user who has a quota applied to them.

Reparse points
Introduced in NTFS v3, NTFS reparse points are used by associating a reparse tag in the user space attribute of a file or directory. Microsoft includes several default tags including symbolic links, directory junction points and volume mount points. When the Object Manager parses a file system name lookup and encounters a reparse attribute, it will reparse the name lookup, passing the user controlled reparse data to every file system filter driver that is loaded into Windows. Each filter driver examines the reparse data to see whether it is associated with that reparse point, and if that filter driver determines a match, then it intercepts the file system request and performs its special functionality.

Resizing
Starting with Windows Vista Microsoft added the built-in ability to shrink or expand a partition. However, this ability does not relocate page file fragments or files that have been marked as unmovable, so shrinking a volume will often require relocating or disabling any page file, the index of Windows Search, and any Shadow Copy used by System Restore. Various third-party tools are capable of resizing NTFS partitions.

OneDrive
Since 2017, Microsoft requires the OneDrive file structure to reside on an NTFS disk. This is because OneDrive Files On-Demand feature uses NTFS reparse points to link files and folders that are stored in OneDrive to the local filesystem, making the file or folder unusable with any previous version of Windows, with any other NTFS file system driver, or any file system and backup utilities not updated to support it.

Structure
NTFS is made up of several components including: a partition boot sector (PBS) that holds boot information; the master file table that stores a record of all files and folders in the filesystem; a series of meta files that help structure meta data more efficiently; data streams and locking mechanisms.

Internally, NTFS uses B-trees to index file system data. A file system journal is used to guarantee the integrity of the file system metadata but not individual files' content. Systems using NTFS are known to have improved reliability compared to FAT file systems.

NTFS allows any sequence of 16-bit values for name encoding (e.g. file names, stream names or index names) except 0x0000. This means UTF-16 code units are supported, but the file system does not check whether a sequence is valid UTF-16 (it allows any sequence of short values, not restricted to those in the Unicode standard). In Win32 namespace, any UTF-16 code units are case insensitive whereas in POSIX namespace they are case sensitive. File names are limited to 255 UTF-16 code units. Certain names are reserved in the volume root directory and cannot be used for files. These are,  ,  ,  ,  ,   (dot),  ,  ,  ,  ,  , and. (dot) and  are both directories; the others are files. The NT kernel limits full paths to 32,767 UTF-16 code units. There are some additional restrictions on code points and file names.

Partition Boot Sector (PBS)
This boot partition format is roughly based upon the earlier FAT filesystem, but the fields are in different locations. Some of these fields, especially the "sectors per track", "number of heads" and "hidden sectors" fields may contain dummy values on drives where they either do not make sense or are not determinable.

The OS first looks at the 8 bytes at 0x30 to find the cluster number of the $MFT, then multiplies that number by the number of sectors per cluster (1 byte found at 0x0D). This value is the sector offset (LBA) to the $MFT, which is described below.

Master File Table
In NTFS, all file, directory and metafile data—file name, creation date, access permissions (by the use of access control lists), and size—are stored as metadata in the Master File Table (MFT). This abstract approach allowed easy addition of file system features during Windows NT's development—an example is the addition of fields for indexing used by the Active Directory and the Windows Search. This also enables fast file search software to locate named local files and folders included in the MFT very quickly, without requiring any other index.

The MFT structure supports algorithms which minimize disk fragmentation. A directory entry consists of a filename and a "file ID" (analogous to the inode number), which is the record number representing the file in the Master File Table. The file ID also contains a reuse count to detect stale references. While this strongly resembles the W_FID of Files-11, other NTFS structures radically differ.

A partial copy of the MFT, called the MFT mirror, is stored to be used in case of corruption. If the first record of the MFT is corrupted, NTFS reads the second record to find the MFT mirror file. Locations for both files are stored in the boot sector.

Metafiles
NTFS contains several files that define and organize the file system. In all respects, most of these files are structured like any other user file ($Volume being the most peculiar), but are not of direct interest to file system clients. These metafiles define files, back up critical file system data, buffer file system changes, manage free space allocation, satisfy BIOS expectations, track bad allocation units, and store security and disk space usage information. All content is in an unnamed data stream, unless otherwise indicated.

These metafiles are treated specially by Windows, handled directly by the  driver and are difficult to directly view: special purpose-built tools are needed. As of Windows 7, the NTFS driver completely prohibits user access, resulting in a BSoD whenever an attempt to execute a metadata file is made. One such tool is the nfi.exe ("NTFS File Sector Information Utility") that is freely distributed as part of the Microsoft "OEM Support Tools". For example, to obtain information on the "$MFT"-Master File Table Segment the following command is used: nfi.exe c:\$MFT Another way to bypass the restriction is to use 7-Zip's file manager and go to the low-level NTFS path  (where   resembles any drive/partition). Here, 3 new folders will appear:,   (a pseudo-folder that 7-Zip uses to attach files deleted from the file system to view), and   (another pseudo-folder that contains all the NTFS metadata files). This trick can be used from removable devices (USB flash drives, external hard drives, SD Cards, etc.) inside Windows, but doing this on the active partition requires offline access (namely WinRE).

Attribute lists, attributes, and streams
For each file (or directory) described in the MFT record, there is a linear repository of stream descriptors (also named attributes), packed together in one or more MFT records (containing the so-called attributes list), with extra padding to fill the fixed 1 KB size of every MFT record, and that fully describes the effective streams associated with that file.

Each attribute has an attribute type (a fixed-size integer mapping to an attribute definition in file $AttrDef), an optional attribute name (for example, used as the name for an alternate data stream), and a value, represented in a sequence of bytes. For NTFS, the standard data of files, the alternate data streams, or the index data for directories are stored as attributes.

According to $AttrDef, some attributes can be either resident or non-resident. The $DATA attribute, which contains file data, is such an example. When the attribute is resident (which is represented by a flag), its value is stored directly in the MFT record. Otherwise, clusters are allocated for the data, and the cluster location information is stored as data runs in the attribute.
 * For each file in the MFT, the attributes identified by attribute type, attribute name must be unique. Additionally, NTFS has some ordering constraints for these attributes.
 * There is a predefined null attribute type, used to indicate the end of the list of attributes in one MFT record. It must be present as the last attribute in the record (all other storage space available after it will be ignored and just consists of padding bytes to match the record size in the MFT).
 * Some attribute types are required and must be present in each MFT record, except unused records that are just indicated by null attribute types.
 * This is the case for the $STANDARD_INFORMATION attribute that is stored as a fixed-size record and contains the timestamps and other basic single-bit attributes (compatible with those managed by FAT in DOS or Windows 9x).
 * Some attribute types cannot have a name and must remain anonymous.
 * This is the case for the standard attributes, or for the preferred NTFS "filename" attribute type, or the "short filename" attribute type, when it is also present (for compatibility with DOS-like applications, see below). It is also possible for a file to contain only a short filename, in which case it will be the preferred one, as listed in the Windows Explorer.
 * The filename attributes stored in the attribute list do not make the file immediately accessible through the hierarchical file system. In fact, all the filenames must be indexed separately in at least one other directory on the same volume. There it must have its own MFT record and its own security descriptors and attributes that reference the MFT record number for this file. This allows the same file or directory to be "hardlinked" several times from several containers on the same volume, possibly with distinct filenames.
 * The default data stream of a regular file is a stream of type $DATA but with an anonymous name, and the ADSs are similar but must be named.
 * On the other hand, the default data stream of directories has a distinct type, but are not anonymous: they have an attribute name ("$I30" in NTFS 3+) that reflects its indexing format.

All attributes of a given file may be displayed by using the nfi.exe ("NTFS File Sector Information Utility") that is freely distributed as part of the Microsoft "OEM Support Tools".

Windows system calls may handle alternate data streams. Depending on the operating system, utility and remote file system, a file transfer might silently strip data streams. A safe way of copying or moving files is to use the BackupRead and BackupWrite system calls, which allow programs to enumerate streams, to verify whether each stream should be written to the destination volume and to knowingly skip unwanted streams.

Resident vs. non-resident attributes
To optimize the storage and reduce the I/O overhead for the very common case of attributes with very small associated value, NTFS prefers to place the value within the attribute itself (if the size of the attribute does not then exceed the maximum size of an MFT record), instead of using the MFT record space to list clusters containing the data; in that case, the attribute will not store the data directly but will just store an allocation map (in the form of data runs) pointing to the actual data stored elsewhere on the volume. When the value can be accessed directly from within the attribute, it is called "resident data" (by computer forensics workers). The amount of data that fits is highly dependent on the file's characteristics, but 700 to 800 bytes is common in single-stream files with non-lengthy filenames and no ACLs.
 * Some attributes (such as the preferred filename, the basic file attributes) cannot be made non-resident. For non-resident attributes, their allocation map must fit within MFT records.
 * Encrypted-by-NTFS, sparse data streams, or compressed data streams cannot be made resident.
 * The format of the allocation map for non-resident attributes depends on its capability of supporting sparse data storage. In the current implementation of NTFS, once a non-resident data stream has been marked and converted as sparse, it cannot be changed back to non-sparse data, so it cannot become resident again, unless this data is fully truncated, discarding the sparse allocation map completely.
 * When a non-resident attribute is so fragmented, that its effective allocation map cannot fit entirely within one MFT record, NTFS stores the attribute in multiple records. The first one among them is called the base record, while the others are called extension records. NTFS creates a special attribute $ATTRIBUTE_LIST to store information mapping different parts of the long attribute to the MFT records, which means the allocation map may be split into multiple records. The $ATTRIBUTE_LIST itself can also be non-resident, but its own allocation map must fit within one MFT record.
 * When there are too many attributes for a file (including ADS's, extended attributes, or security descriptors), so that they cannot fit all within the MFT record, extension records may also be used to store the other attributes, using the same format as the one used in the base MFT record, but without the space constraints of one MFT record.

The allocation map is stored in a form of data runs with compressed encoding. Each data run represents a contiguous group of clusters that store the attribute value. For files on a multi-GB volume, each entry can be encoded as 5 to 7 bytes, which means a $1 KB$ MFT record can store about 100 such data runs. However, as the $ATTRIBUTE_LIST also has a size limit, it is dangerous to have more than 1 million fragments of a single file on an NTFS volume, which also implies that it is in general not a good idea to use NTFS compression on a file larger than $10 GB$.

The NTFS file system driver will sometimes attempt to relocate the data of some of the attributes that can be made non-resident into the clusters, and will also attempt to relocate the data stored in clusters back to the attribute inside the MFT record, based on priority and preferred ordering rules, and size constraints.

Since resident files do not directly occupy clusters ("allocation units"), it is possible for an NTFS volume to contain more files on a volume than there are clusters. For example, a $74.5 GB$ partition NTFS formats with 19,543,064 clusters of $4 KB$. Subtracting system files (a $64 MB$ log file, a 2,442,888-byte Bitmap file, and about 25 clusters of fixed overhead) leaves 19,526,158 clusters free for files and indices. Since there are four MFT records per cluster, this volume theoretically could hold almost 4 × 19,526,158 = 78,104,632 resident files.

Opportunistic locks
Opportunistic file locks (oplocks) allow clients to alter their buffering strategy for a given file or stream in order to increase performance and reduce network use. Oplocks apply to the given open stream of a file and do not affect oplocks on a different stream.

Oplocks can be used to transparently access files in the background. A network client may avoid writing information into a file on a remote server if no other process is accessing the data, or it may buffer read-ahead data if no other process is writing data.

Windows supports four different types of oplocks:
 * Level 2 (or shared) oplock: multiple readers, no writers (i.e. read caching).
 * Level 1 (or exclusive) oplock: exclusive access with arbitrary buffering (i.e. read and write caching).
 * Batch oplock (also exclusive): a stream is opened on the server, but closed on the client machine (i.e. read, write and handle caching).
 * Filter oplock (also exclusive): applications and file system filters can "back out" when others try to access the same stream (i.e. read and write caching) (since Windows 2000)

Opportunistic locks have been enhanced in Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 with per-client oplock keys.

Time
Windows NT and its descendants keep internal timestamps as UTC and make the appropriate conversions for display purposes; all NTFS timestamps are in UTC.

For historical reasons, the versions of Windows that do not support NTFS all keep time internally as local zone time, and therefore so do all file systems – other than NTFS – that are supported by current versions of Windows. This means that when files are copied or moved between NTFS and non-NTFS partitions, the OS needs to convert timestamps on the fly. But if some files are moved when daylight saving time (DST) is in effect, and other files are moved when standard time is in effect, there can be some ambiguities in the conversions. As a result, especially shortly after one of the days on which local zone time changes, users may observe that some files have timestamps that are incorrect by one hour. Due to the differences in implementation of DST in different jurisdictions, this can result in a potential timestamp error of up to 4 hours in any given 12 months.

title: NTFS


text:
Johan August Arfwedson

Johan August Arfwedson (12 January 1792 – 28 October 1841) was a Swedish chemist who discovered the chemical element lithium in 1817 by isolating it as a salt.

Life and work
Arfwedson belonged to a wealthy bourgeois family, the son of the wholesale merchant and factory owner Jacob Arfwedson and his spouse, Anna Elisabeth Holtermann. The younger Arfwedson matriculated as a student at the University of Uppsala in 1803 (at the time, matriculating at a young age was common for aristocratic and wealthy students), completed a degree in Law in 1809 and a second degree in mineralogy in 1812. In the latter year, he received an unpaid position in the Royal Board of Mines, where he advanced to the position of notary (still without a salary) in 1814.

In Stockholm, Arfwedson knew the chemist Jöns Jakob Berzelius and received access to his private laboratory, where he discovered the element lithium in 1817, during analysis of the mineral petalite. The actual isolation of lithium metal would be done by others.

In 1818 and 1819, Arfwedson made a European journey, partly in the society of Berzelius. After coming home, Arfwedson built his own laboratory on his estate. He spent the larger part of his remaining life administering and multiplying his inherited wealth.

He was elected a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1821.

The rare mineral arfvedsonite was named after him.

title: Johan August Arfwedson