Computer Science
FAT32
FAT32 is a file system used by many operating systems to manage and organize files on a storage device. It was introduced in 1996 and is still widely used today due to its compatibility with various devices and operating systems. FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4GB and a maximum partition size of 2TB.
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eBook - PDFWindows to Linux Migration Toolkit
Your Windows to Linux Extreme Makeover
- David Allen(Author)
- 2004(Publication Date)
- Syngress(Publisher)
Virtual File Allocation Table (VFAT)/FAT32 offers the following advances: ■ Uses 32 bits per FAT entry and a smaller cluster size to increase the maximum file system size to 32GB. ■ Each individual file occupies a single cluster; a small file with a smaller cluster size wastes less space. www.syngress.com 108 Chapter 5 • File Services ■ An extension to the VFAT that shares the VFAT file name limitation. ■ Utilities were made available to convert VFAT to FAT32 in a one-way operation. ■ FAT32 partitions are larger than 32GB, are prepared by other OS’, and are usable by windows. Windows NT can use a 64 Kbits cluster and a 64 Kbits cluster, extending the maximum file system size to 4GB for a VFAT partition. With an FAT file system, network file-sharing ACLs are limited to full control , change , and read . In 1988, FAT16 became available, and is used with DOS 4.0 and up, Windows 3.x, Windows 95 OEM SR1, Windows ME, and Windows NT. By 1995, VFAT became available, and can be used with Windows 3.x, Windows 95 OEM SR1, Windows ME, and Windows NT.Around 1998, FAT32 became available, and can be used with Windows 95 OEM SR2, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows 2000, and Windows XP. Understanding Windows NTFS File Systems With Windows NT4, Microsoft included a more complex file system called NTFS. NTFS uses a Master File Table (MFT) to track each file in the partition, with a security descriptor (security and permissions) for each file. Each security descriptor contains a System Access Control List (SACL) for auditing and a Discretionary Access Control List (DACL) affecting access to the file.
eBook - ePub- Ric Messier(Author)
- 2015(Publication Date)
- Syngress(Publisher)
The File Allocation Table (FAT) file system is a very simple design. It can afford to be since, it does not contain much in the way of information about the files other than a very basic set of metadata in addition to the contents of the file. There are actually three versions of the FAT at the moment because of the need to support larger partition sizes. Initially, FAT supported 12 bit entries for addresses but that was not big enough so that was changed to be 16 bit entries, creating what is called FAT16. Now, you will commonly see FAT32, which has 32 bit entries for addresses.While we talk about FAT as being a file system, it is also a data structure that resides in the partition. This may appear to be confusing at times, since it has two separate meanings. In fact, one refers to the other. The format or file system is actually named after the table that gets created, when the file system is formatted. In order to avoid as much confusion as possible, I will refer to the file table itself as the file table or as a table and the file system itself as either FAT or the File Allocation Table.Because of the simplicity of FAT, it ends up being implemented in a lot of different places. Devices like digital cameras, digital recorders, or other basic, digital consumer devices often implement FAT as the file system to store data on. When you pull a storage card out of one of those devices, it will be formatted in a version of FAT. Another place, where you will often find FAT implemented is the boot partition of a computer. Since FAT is such a simple file system, most operating systems can read and write to it. Additionally, it is easy for the boot code to be implemented to get data off it. EFI systems may use FAT in the boot partition. The boot partition would then be used to store files that would boot the actual operating system. Using FAT in the boot partition can also help in cases where you are booting more than one operating system from the same hard drive. Since it is FAT, you do not have to worry about whether any of the operating systems can read or write to the boot partition.
eBook - PDF- Palmer, Greg Tomsho(Authors)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
The first 128 characters in Unicode are the 128 ASCII characters. Unicode allows over a million characters to be defined. It includes distinct character codes for all modern languages and many historic scripts like Egyptian hieroglyphs. To the user who communicates primarily in English, Unicode will not make a big difference, but in this age of worldwide communication, it is a necessity. FAT32 Starting with Windows 95 Release 2, all Windows versions support FAT32. FAT32 is designed to accommodate larger-capacity disks than FAT16 and avoid the problem of cluster size limitations. A file allocation table entry in FAT32 is 32 bits in length and FAT32 sup-ports up to 2 28 clusters (this figure is not to the 32nd power because some extra space is reserved for the operating system). In FAT32, the root folder does not have to be at the beginning of a volume; it can be located anywhere. Also, FAT32 can use disk space more efficiently than FAT16 because it can use smaller cluster sizes. FAT32 partitions have a theo-retical size of 2 terabytes (TB); however, the largest volume that can be formatted is 32 GB (still much larger than FAT16). The maximum file size in FAT32 is raised to 4 GB. FAT32 shares characteristics of extended FAT16, such as the double FAT structure at the beginning of a partition for fault tolerance and the use of LFNs and Unicode. Sometimes users choose to employ extended FAT16 or FAT32 because they are familiar with these file systems or they have dual-boot systems, such as a system with Windows XP and the older Windows 98. Another reason for using extended FAT16 or FAT32 is that these file systems offer fast response on small, 1 or 2 GB partitions. 164 Chapter 4 File Systems Copyright 2017 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. WCN 02-300 Windows file systems can be converted from FAT16 or FAT32 to NTFS, either during installation or at a later date.
eBook - ePubEnCase Computer Forensics -- The Official EnCE
EnCase Certified Examiner Study Guide
- Steve Bunting(Author)
- 2012(Publication Date)
- Sybex(Publisher)
Chapter 2File Systems
EnCE Exam Topics Covered in This Chapter:- FAT12 file system
- FAT16 file system
- FAT32 file system
- Other file systems (NTFS, CD, and exFAT file systems)
In the previous chapter, we made many references to file systems and discussed generally what a file system is and its functional purpose. We referenced some file system names, such as FAT, NTFS, and Linux’s EXT2/3/4. In this chapter, we thoroughly cover the File Allocation Table (FAT) file system’s internal structures and function, and we touch on the New Technology File System (NTFS) and CD file systems.The FAT file system has been around for nearly a quarter of a century and will be with us for the foreseeable future. It is still used with floppy drives, Flash media, and USB thumb drives, and it can still be used, optionally, with Windows XP and Windows Vista. In fact, Flash media in all of its various flavors (thumb drives, memory sticks and cards, and so forth) has given a resurgence to FAT file systems, because they nearly all come formatted in FAT. It is truly the one cross-platform file system that is both readable and writable by all major operating systems. Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 default to NTFS, but if upgrading to a newer operating system, they default to the former file system. If that former file system happened to be FAT, FAT will be the default. Thus, as a computer forensics examiner, you will encounter many cases involving FAT from both legacy and new systems for years to come.In this chapter, you will learn about the data structures of the FAT file system, which consists of two major components: the File Allocation Table and the directory entries. You will learn how the directory entries store filenames and attributes (metadata), how the FAT is used both to track the allocation status of the data storage area (organized as clusters
eBook - PDF- Greg Tomsho(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
• Access control lists (ACLs) —ACLs determine who can access a file or folder and what can be done with the file (read, write, delete, and so on). File systems vary in whether and how each component is used. Generally, more advanced file systems have flexible file naming rules, an efficient method of managing data storage, a considerable amount of metadata, advanced attributes, and ACLs. Next, you examine these file systems more closely. Note For more information on other file systems and a comparison of features, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Comparison_of_file_systems . Note A third variation, FAT12, is the original version of FAT developed in the late 1970s. It was limited to use on floppy disks. Note The number in FAT versions refers to the number of bits available to address disk clusters. Fat16 can address up to 2 16 disk clusters, and FAT32 can address up to 2 32 disk clusters. The number of disk clusters a file system can address is directly proportional to the largest size partition it supports. The FAT File System The FAT file system consists of two variations: FAT16 and FAT32. FAT vaguely describes the structure used to manage data storage. FAT16, usually referred to simply as FAT , has been around since the mid-1980s, which is one of its biggest strengths—it’s well known and well supported by most OSs. FAT32 arrived on the scene with the release of Windows 95 OSR2 in 1996. The main difference between FAT16 and FAT32 is the size of the disk partition that can be formatted. FAT16 is limited to 2 GB partitions in most implementations (although Windows NT permits partitions up to 4 GB). FAT32 allows partitions up to 2 TB; however, in Windows 2000 and later, Microsoft limits them to 32 GB because the file system becomes noticeably slower and inefficient with larger partition sizes. This 32 GB limitation applies only to creating partitions.
No longer available |Learn more- TOMSHO, Greg Tomsho(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
• Access control lists (ACLs) —ACLs determine who can access a file or folder and what can be done with the file (read, write, delete, and so on). File systems vary in whether and how each component is used. Generally, more advanced file systems have flexible filenaming rules, an efficient method of managing data storage, a consider-able amount of metadata, advanced attributes, and ACLs. In Chapter 1, you reviewed some basic differences between FAT and NTFS. Next, you examine these file systems more closely. For more information on other file systems and a comparison of features, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems . Wikipedia ar-ticles can be created and changed by anybody, but this article is accurate as of this writing and unique for this type of extensive file system comparison. The FAT File System The File Allocation Table (FAT) file system consists of two variations: FAT16 and FAT32. “File Allocation Table” vaguely describes the structure used to manage data storage. FAT16, usually referred to simply as “FAT,” has been around since the mid-1980s, which is one of its biggest strengths—it’s well known and well supported by most OSs. FAT32 arrived on the scene with the release of Windows 95 OSR2 in 1996. A third variation, FAT12, is the original version of FAT developed in the late 1970s. It was limited to use on floppy disks. The main difference between FAT16 and FAT32 is the size of the disk partition that can be formatted. FAT16 is limited to 2 GB partitions in most implementations (although Windows NT permits partitions up to 4 GB). FAT32 allows partitions up to 2 TB; however, in Windows 2000 and later, Microsoft limits them to 32 GB because the file system becomes noticeably slower and inefficient with larger partition sizes. This 32 GB limitation applies only to creating partitions. Windows can read FAT32 partitions of any size. FAT16 supports a maximum file size of 2 GB, and FAT32 supports files up to 4 GB.
eBook - ePub- Debra Littlejohn Shinder, Michael Cross(Authors)
- 2008(Publication Date)
- Syngress(Publisher)
FAT stands for File Allocation Table; the FAT file system was developed for use by the DOS operating systems. The first version of the FAT file system was called FAT12 because its allocation tables used a 12-digit binary number (12 bits) for cluster information (which we'll discuss later in this chapter). The FAT12 file system was useful for the very small hard disks that came with the original IBM PC (less than 16MB in size). It is also used to format floppy diskettes.FAT16
The FAT16 file system was developed for disks larger than 16 MB, and for a long time it was the standard file system for formatting hard disks. As you can probably guess, it uses 16-bit allocation table entries. The FAT16 file system (often referred to as just the FAT file system) is supported by all Microsoft operating systems, from MS-DOS to Windows Vista. It is also supported by some non-Microsoft operating systems, such as Linux.This support makes it the most universally compatible file system. However, it has many drawbacks, including the following:▪ It doesn't scale well to large disks; because the cluster size increases as the disk partition size increases, a large disk (larger than about 2 GB) formatted with the FAT16 file system will have a lot of wasted space.▪ It doesn't support file-level security (assignment of permissions to individual files and folders).▪ It doesn't support file-level compression; the compression scheme that is used with the FAT16 file system, such as that implemented by DriveSpace, requires that the entire logical drive be compressed.Note
You may read in some sources that the FAT16 file system is limited to 2 GB in size, but that's not really the case (although it does become inefficient at larger disk sizes). MS-DOS will not allow you to create a FAT16 partition larger than 2 GB, but you can create larger FAT16 partitions (up to 4 GB) in Windows NT/2000, XP, and Vista. These larger FAT16 partitions are not supported and recognized by MS-DOS or Windows 9x.VFAT
Virtual FAT, or VFAT
No longer available |Learn moreInstallation, Storage, and Compute with Windows Server 2016: Microsoft 70-740 MCSA Exam Guide
Implement and configure storage and compute functionalities in Windows Server 2016
- Sasha Kranjac, Vladimir Stefanovic(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Packt Publishing(Publisher)
ReFS ).FAT is sometimes referred to as FAT16 and has been present since MS-DOS. FAT32 was introduced with Windows 95 OSR2 and has been supported in Microsoft Windows operating systems since then. FAT uses a 16-bit file-allocation table entry while FAT32 has a 32-bit file-allocation entry.The following table shows a comparison between the size limits of FAT and FAT32:Description FAT limits FAT32 limits Maximum file size 4 GB (minus 1 byte) 4 GB (minus 1 byte) Maximum volume size 4 GB 32 GB Files per volume 65,536 4,177,920 Maximum number of files and folders 512 files (within the root folder) 65,534 (within a single folder) Windows Server 2016 supports FAT and FAT32 for backward-compatibility with older types of software and hardware, and as a support for removable or portable storage, such as flash (USB) drives. Flash drives can be formatted with NTFS, but FAT and FAT32 still remain the filesystems of choice for this type of storage.The main filesystem in Windows Server 2016 is NTFS, as it was in the previous Windows Server versions. Microsoft's newest filesystem is ReFS. The NTFS filesystem addresses the weaknesses and limitations of FAT and FAT32, providing support for larger volumes and file sizes and an increase in security, which is essential not only for business use, but for personal use as well. It provides more advanced features, such as encryption, disk quotas, security descriptors, and Clustered Shared Volumes, in a failover cluster.
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NT Filesystem (NTFS)
NTFS is the main filesystem on Windows Server and Windows client operating systems and it has many advantages. Passage contains an image
Security
Filesystem security is greatly enhanced in NTFS with the following:- Encrypting Filesystem (EFS) : An encryption technology that runs as an integrated system service providing transparent file encryption and decryption. File permissions and logon authentication protect files, folders, and network resources from unauthorized access. But what if a computer or disk is stolen? Without an access check, anyone that has physical access to disk or computer can access the data. When a user opens a file, EFS transparently decrypts the data. When a user saves the file, the data is encrypted without user intervention, in the background. EFS uses three encryption algorithms to encrypt and decrypt the data:
- DESX : An enhanced version of Data Encryption Standard (DES ).
- 3DES or Triple-DES : Uses a 128-bit or 168-bit key.
- AES or Advanced Encryption Standard
eBook - ePubWindows Security Monitoring
Scenarios and Patterns
- Andrei Miroshnikov(Author)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
CHAPTER 13 Filesystem and Removable StorageThis chapter is probably one of the most interesting chapters in the book, because it answers some of the most common questions asked during incident investigation procedures:- Who deleted the file?
- Who created the file?
- How was this file accessed—using which tool or application?
- When was this file deleted?
- Who changed this file?
- and so on
Some of these questions are easy to answer, but some of them are not. In this chapter you will find information about monitoring recommendations for most common scenarios related to the local drive and removable storage filesystem objects.Windows Filesystem
Currently the most common Windows filesystem is the New Technology File System (NTFS). You can still find the File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32) filesystem, most likely on some USB drives or legacy operating systems, like Windows 98, for example.The FAT32 filesystem was developed as an extension and replacement of the older FAT16 filesystem to overcome some FAT16 filesystem limitations, such as maximum file size limitations, and to improve other characteristics.FAT16 was first introduced in November 1987, with FAT32 coming in 1996. Table 13-1 compares some of the characteristics of these two filesystems.FAT16 Compared to FAT32Table 13-1:LIMIT FAT16 FAT32 Max. volume size 4 GB (64KB clusters) 16 TB (4KB sectors) Max. file size 4 GB 4 GB Max. number of files 65,460 (32KB clusters) 268,173,300 (32KB clusters) Max. filename length 
eBook - PDF- Abraham Silberschatz, Peter B. Galvin, Greg Gagne(Authors)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Wiley(Publisher)
An important variation on linked allocation is the use of a file-allocation table (FAT). This simple but efficient method of disk-space allocation was used by the MS-DOS operating system. A section of storage at the beginning of each volume is set aside to contain the table. The table has one entry for each block and is indexed by block number. The FAT is used in much the same way as a linked list. The directory entry contains the block number of the first block of the file. The table entry indexed by that block number contains the block number of the next block in the file. This chain continues until it reaches the last block, which has a special end-of-file value as the table entry. An unused block is indicated by a table value of 0. Allocating a new block to a file is a simple matter of finding the first 0-valued table entry and replacing the previous end- of-file value with the address of the new block. The 0 is then replaced with the end-of-file value. An illustrative example is the FAT structure shown in Figure 14.6 for a file consisting of disk blocks 217, 618, and 339. The FAT allocation scheme can result in a significant number of disk head seeks, unless the FAT is cached. The disk head must move to the start of the volume to read the FAT and find the location of the block in question, then move to the location of the block itself. In the worst case, both moves occur for each of the blocks. A benefit is that random-access time is improved, because the disk head can find the location of any block by reading the information in the FAT. 14.4 Allocation Methods 619 Figure 14.6 File-allocation table. 14.4.3 Indexed Allocation Linked allocation solves the external-fragmentation and size-declaration prob- lems of contiguous allocation. However, in the absence of a FAT, linked alloca- tion cannot support efficient direct access, since the pointers to the blocks are scattered with the blocks themselves all over the disk and must be retrieved in order.
- Bill Nelson, Amelia Phillips, Christopher Steuart, , Bill Nelson, Amelia Phillips, Christopher Steuart(Authors)
- 2018(Publication Date)
- Cengage Learning EMEA(Publisher)
(The MFT is covered in more detail in “NTFS System Files.”) An important advantage of NTFS over FAT is that it results in much less file slack space. Compare the cluster sizes in Table 5-3 with Table 5-2, which showed FAT cluster sizes. Clusters are smaller for smaller disk drives. This feature saves more space on all disks using NTFS. Drive size Sectors per cluster Cluster size 7–512 MB 8 4 KB 512 MB–1 GB 8 4 KB 1–2 GB 8 4 KB 2 GB–2 TB 8 4 KB 2–16 TB 8 4 KB 16–32 TB 16 8 KB 32–64 TB 32 16 KB 64–128 TB 64 32 KB 128–256 TB 128 64 KB Cluster sizes in an NTFS disk Table 5-3 Copyright 2019 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s). Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it. CHAPTER 5 Working with Windows and CLI Systems 214 NTFS (and VFAT for long filenames) also uses Unicode , an international data format. Unlike the American Standard Code for Information Interchange (ASCII) 8-bit configuration, Unicode uses an 8-bit, a 16-bit, or a 32-bit configuration. These configurations are known as UTF-8 (Unicode Transformation Format) , UTF-16, and UTF-32. For Western-language alphabetic characters, UTF-8 is identical to ASCII (see www.unicode.org/versions for more details). Knowing this feature of Unicode comes in handy when you perform keyword searches for evidence on a disk drive. (This feature is discussed in more detail in Chapter 9.) Because NTFS offers many more features than FAT, more utilities are used to manage it. NTFS System Files Because everything on an NTFS disk is a file, the first file, the MFT, contains information about all files on the disk, including the system files the OS uses.
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