tallsandwich, I think I did answer the "why it was installed" question in my first response, although without explaing why it would be easier.
The link I posted also had a comparative performance test between FAT32 and NTFS - OK, sponsored By MS - that indicated that there was less than 2% performance difference.
I can think of several reasons why NTFS on a home PC is desirable, if not essential!
To my mind, the most compelling reason to use NTFS on a home PC is to prevent malware from accessing the system files when connected to the internet.
With NTFS and logged on as a USER, rather than Admin, it is extremely unlikely that any system files can be modified. Not totally waterproof (mixing metaphors, here I think), but every little helps.
There is simply no equivalent protection with FATxx.
The second important reason for a home PC to run NTFS is for multiple users in a family to have private areas (agreed, accessible to admin equivalent, and susceptible to physical attack with various "hacking" tools).
It is also very important to have children's access restricted to USERS so that they cannot (again, caveats apply) inadvertently break the OS.
There is nothing with FAT32 to prevent system files being deleted. Please correct me if I'm wrong - I have never run an NT system since 3.51 without NTFS, and the last time I used FAT32 was with Win98!
Fair enough, if you are the only person in the household, then only the first reason is important - and if you connect to the internet as administrator then not even that. But I believe that it is less secure.
SD