Folders

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mickey Mouse
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Mickey Mouse

Hi,
Sometimes you get that nagging question running through your mind.
Sometimes it nags
you so much that you need to get an answer. So, here it is.

You copy a file to a folder, say folder 1, then you copy the same file to
folder 2.

Where does windows store the information as to where these two files are,
how does it keep
track of files that are deleted or moved?

Mickey
 
Mickey said:
Hi,
Sometimes you get that nagging question running through your mind.
Sometimes it nags
you so much that you need to get an answer. So, here it is.

You copy a file to a folder, say folder 1, then you copy the same file to
folder 2.

Where does windows store the information as to where these two files are,
how does it keep track of files that are deleted or moved?

Mickey
Click to expand...

In the MFT. There are lots of good books, and articles on the net on
computers (via a Google search). :-).
 
Mickey Mouse said this on 3/22/2009 9:56 AM:
Hi,
Sometimes you get that nagging question running through your mind.
Sometimes it nags
you so much that you need to get an answer. So, here it is.

You copy a file to a folder, say folder 1, then you copy the same file to
folder 2.

Where does windows store the information as to where these two files are,
how does it keep
track of files that are deleted or moved?

Mickey
Click to expand...
I'm surely not the expert, but in broad strokes this is my understanding:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table
Has a bit of explanation. This FAT which is the old storage for
windows and is slowly dying as years go by due to the size limitations.

And NTFS as someone else mentioned.

Basically (real basic) the files are stored on the HD and some entry is
made into a table that tells the OS where that file is stored. This is
why moving a file on the same C:\ structure does not really move the
file but just changes entries in the table. Add to directory 2 and
remove from directory 1. A copy however has to duplicate the file on
the HD and then make a 2nd table entry.

This leads to two results. 1) if the table gets corrupted the files
can't be found or 2) when you delete files the table is adjusted and the
file is not really deleted. Both are the basis of a lot of undelete
programs or data recovery programs. If you can find the file on the
HD, even though you have a corrupt table or it was deleted, you can just
put an entry back into the table to make it show.
 
Thanks Bill, I'll remember that next time I'm looking for a book or article.
Will you be able to afford it if they start charging for oxygen?

Mickey
 
File Allocation Table, of course! I must be going old age in my
senility...lol! Big Al, thanks for jogging my memory and the pointer.


Mickey
 
Mickey said:
Thanks Bill, I'll remember that next time I'm looking for a book or
article.
Click to expand...

Well if you're not, you should be. That's my point, grasshopper.
Are you too young to know the parable about giving a man some fish, or
rather instead, teaching him how to fish? (Probably too old school for
you).
Will you be able to afford it if they start charging for oxygen?

Mickey
Click to expand...

Probably only if you give up smoking. :-)
 
For FAT filesystems, yes; for NTFS, which is more likely for an internal
drive on an XP system, it's the MFT, as previously stated.
 
Bill, don't let your mind wander, it's way to small to
be let out alone.

Mickey>>>>>>>>>>>..Mouse!
 
Well if you're not, you should be. That's my point, grasshopper.
Are you too young to know the parable about giving a man some fish, or
rather instead, teaching him how to fish? (Probably too old school for
you).
Click to expand...

Ah yes, fall back on your age - as if being an old fogie adds to your
qualifications.

News flash: it doesn't.

Besides, "Mickey" is an old fogie too.
 
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