Hi everyone,
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So, I'm currently studying digital forensics but since this field is quite new for me I'm struggling to understand some basic concepts about FAT32 file system.
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I'm struggling to understand how files are stored and accessed within a FAT32 file allocation table.
How are files stored and accessed? How do clusters, sectors and partitions work in the FAT32 file allocation table?
What is the difference between root directory and directory entry? How is root directory structured?
Can someone give me a detail explanation about these topics?
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Cheers,
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Azure
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What is the difference between root directory and directory entry? How is root directory structured?Â
Well, one of the (main) points about FAT32 is that there is not a root directory, strictly speaking.
In older OS, there was this root directory which had a given size (number of entries) determined/chosen at format time.
FAT32 breaks that, what is still called "root directory" is more like "first directory":
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Design_of_the_FAT_file_system#Layout
Besides the Wikipedia article above, you will need to procure and study the "basic" documentation on the FAT32 format, here:
https://download.microsoft.com/download/1/6/1/161ba512-40e2-4cc9-843a-923143f3456c/fatgen103.doc
and check these articles:
https://www.cse.scu.edu/~tschwarz/coen252_04/Lectures/FAT.html
https://www.pjrc.com/tech/8051/ide/fat32.html
https://www.easeus.com/data-recovery-ebook/root-directory-management-in-FAT32.htm
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Then, besides likely finding answers to your questions (at least partially), you will be able to ask more focused/detailed questions, in case of need.
jaclazÂ