File Systems

​Managing File Systems

Non-volatile computer storage is based around mass storage drives. Every computer comes with a primary fixed disk (HDD or SSD). This stores the operating system and applications software that has been installed to the PC plus data files created by users.

​Managing File Systems

The computer may also have a number of other storage devices, such as a secondary HDD or SSD, a CD/DVD/BD optical drive or writer, USB removable drives, or a flash memory card reader. In order for the OS to be able to read and write files to a drive, it must be partitioned and formatted with a file system.

Hard Disk Partitions

Partitioning a hard disk is the act of dividing it into logically separate storage areas. This may be done to improve the performance of the disk, to install multiple operating systems, or to provide a logical separation of different data areas. You must create at least one partition on the hard disk before performing a format to create a file system.

Hard Disk Partitions

Typically, this is done through Windows Setup when building a new PC or through Disk Management when adding an extra hard disk. On the primary fixed disk, one of the partitions must be made active. This active partition is also referred to as the system partition. An active partition is used by the computer to boot. In Windows, the system partition is usually hidden from File Explorer and is not allocated a drive letter.

Windows Drives

In Windows, each formatted partition can be allocated a drive letter, from A through Z. The boot partition (containing the operating system files) is usually allocated the letter C. Each removable drive (CD/DVD/BD or flash memory card for instance) can also be allocated a drive letter.

File Systems

Each partition can be formatted with a different file system. Under Windows, there is a choice between FAT and NTFS.

File Systems

• FAT (File Allocation Table)—this was used for older versions of Windows and is preserved under Windows for compatibility. Typically, the 32-bit version (FAT32) is used. This permits a maximum file size of 4 GB and a maximum partition size of 32 GB. FAT32 is used for formatting most removable drives and disks, as it provides the best compatibility between different types of computers and devices.

File Systems

• NTFS (New Technology File System)—as a 64-bit addressing scheme, NTFS allows much larger partitions (up to 2 TB) than FAT. NTFS also supports extended attributes, allowing for file-level security permissions, compression, and encryption. These features make NTFS much more stable and secure than FAT. Windows must be installed to an NTFS partition.

File Systems

• CDs and DVDs are often formatted using Universal Disk Format (UDF), though the older CD format ISO 9660 (or CDFS) offers the best compatibility with legacy drives. Recordable media can be written to once only; rewritable media support deleting and adding files later, but to make the disc fully compatible with consumer DVD players, the session must be closed, when done writing the media.

File Systems

• Most Linux distributions use some version of the ext file system to format partitions on mass storage devices. ext3 is a 64-bit file system with support for journaling, which means that the file system tracks changes, giving better reliability and less chance of file corruption in the event of crashes or power outages. Support for journaling is the main difference between ext3 and its predecessor (ext2). ext4 delivers significantly better performance than ext3 and would usually represent the best choice for new systems.

File Systems

• exFAT can be used where the NTFS file system is not a feasible solution (due to data structure overhead), but require a greater file size limit than the standard FAT32 file system (i.e. 4 GiB). exFAT has been adopted by the SD Card Association as the default file system for SDXC cards larger than 32 GiB. Along with most of the features of NTFS, less overhead means faster processing for the exFAT file system, making it particularly suitable for flash drives.

File Systems

• Apple Mac workstations and laptops use the extended Hierarchical File System (HFS+), though the latest macOS version is being updated to the Apple File System (APFS).

File Systems Features

• You can evaluate file systems by considering which features they do or do not support:

File Systems Features

• Compression—the file system can automatically reduce the amount of disk space taken up by a file. The file system applies a non-lossy algorithm to the file to find ways to store the data in it more efficiently without discarding any information. Note that file system compression only benefits files that are not already compressed. A file type such as JPEG, that already applies compression, will not be significantly reduced in size.

File Systems Features

• Encryption—the file system can automatically encrypt data in a file when it is saved. This means that the file can only be opened when there is access to the encryption key. If this is stored separately to the data and/or its use is protected by a password, the data on the drive is protected even if the disk is stolen and installed in another computer system.

• Permissions—the file system maintains an Access Control List (ACL) for each file or folder object. The ACL records which user accounts are allowed to read, write, or control the object.

File Systems Features

• Journaling—the file system tracks changes or intended changes in a log. This means that if there is a sudden power cut and a particular write operation was interrupted, the journal may be used to recover the data or at least restore the file system to good working order (consistent state).

• Limitations—as noted in the table below, file systems have limits in terms of their maximum capacity and the size of individual files.

File Systems Features

• Naming rules—very old file systems limited the size of a file name to eight characters plus a three-character extension. Modern file systems support longer file names (usually up to 255 characters) and complete directory paths, use of Unicode characters in the name, and support distinguishing the case of file name characters. File systems also have a number of reserved characters which cannot be used in a file name.

Folders and Directories

The purpose of a drive is to store files. Folders are a means of organizing files on each drive to make them easier to find. Folders can also create distinct areas in terms of security access controls. Operating system files can be separated from user data files, and standard users can be prevented from modifying them. Also, each user can have a protected storage area that other standard users cannot access, unless the folder is shared.

Folders and Directories

Folders are created in a hierarchy of subfolders. The first level of the hierarchy is called the root folder. This is created when the drive is formatted. The root folder is identified by the drive label and a backslash. For example, the root folder of the C: drive is C:\ The root folder can contain files and subfolders. The path to a subfolder is also separated by backslashes. For example, in C:\WINDOWS\System32\, WINDOWS is a subfolder of the root and System32 is a subfolder of WINDOWS.

Windows System Folders

A default folder structure is created on the boot partition when Windows is installed. A default installation creates the following three system folders:

Windows System Folders

• Windows—the "system root," containing drivers, logs, add-in applications, system and Registry files (notably the System32 subfolder), and so on. System32 contains most of the applications and utilities used to manage and configure Windows.

• Program Files—subfolders for installed applications software

• Users—storage for users' profile settings and data (Documents, Temporary Internet Files, Cookies, recent file shortcuts, desktop shortcuts, and so on)

Linux Directories

• "Folder" is the term mostly used in GUI operating systems such as Windows and MacOS. In Linux, these containers are called directories. Also, Linux uses the forward slash (/) to represent the root and as a directory delimiter. For example, in the directory path /home/andy, home is a subdirectory of the root directory and andy is a subdirectory of home.

Linux Directories

• It is important to realize that everything available to the Linux OS is represented as a file in the file system, including devices. This is referred to as the unified file system. For example, a single hard drive attached to a SATA port would normally be represented in the file system by /dev/sda. A second storage device—perhaps one attached to a USB port—would be represented as /dev/sdb. There is no concept of "drive letters" in Linux. Everything is represented through the file system.

Linux Directories

• A file system configured on a partition on a particular storage device is attached to a particular directory (mount point) within the unified file system using the mount command. For example:

• mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/mydrive

...mounts partition 1 on the mass storage device sda to the directory /mnt/mydrive. Mountable file systems are listed in the /etc/fstab file.

File Explorer

• In Windows, File Explorer (called Windows Explorer in previous versions and very widely just referred to as "Explorer") provides a visual means of navigating the file system. In the main pane, you can double-click a folder to open it. You can use the Navigation pane to expand and collapse objects or the Breadcrumb on the address bar and Back and Forward buttons on the toolbar.

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Navigation Pane

• When browsing the computer using File Explorer in Windows 10, two top-level categories are shown in the navigation pane. Quick access contains shortcuts to folders that are most useful. These can be modified by dragging and dropping. By default, it contains shortcuts to your personal Desktop, Downloads, Documents, and Pictures folders.

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Navigation Pane

• The second top-level category is the Desktop. Under the "Desktop" object, you can find the following categories:

• OneDrive—if you sign into the computer with a Microsoft account, this shows the files and folders saved to your cloud storage service on the Internet. As you can see from the screenshot, other cloud service providers may add links here too.

• User account—the folders belonging to your account profile. For example, in the screenshot above the user account is listed as "James at CompTIA."

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Navigation Pane

• This PC—access to user-generated files in the user's profile plus the hard drives and removable storage drives available to the PC.

• Libraries—these can be used to create views of folders and files stored in different locations and on different disks.

• Network—contains computers, shared folders, and shared printers available over the network.

• Control Panel—options for configuring legacy Windows features (most configuration is now performed via the Settings app rather than Control Panel).

• Recycle Bin—provides an option for recovering files and folders that have been recently deleted.

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User Profiles and Libraries

• Each user has their own profile folder, stored under the Users system folder.  Files in each user's profile are private (though a user with administrative privileges can still access them). Each profile folder contains subfolders for different types of files (documents, music, pictures, video, and so on). The profile folder also contains hidden subfolders used to store application settings and customizations, favorite links, shortcuts, temporary files, and so on

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User Profiles and Libraries

• Windows also configures a Public profile to allow users of the PC to share files between them (a local share).

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Multiple Choice

What advantage does the File Allocation Table 32 (FAT32) have over the New Technology File System (NTFS)?

• NTFS is the older file system and was used predominantly on older versions of Windows.

• FAT32 has a 64-bit addressing scheme, which permits a file size limit of 4GB and a maximum partition size of 2 TB.

• FAT32 provides the best compatibility between different types of computers and devices.

• FAT32 has larger partitions and supports extended attributes, allowing for file-level security permissions, compression, and encryption.

User Profiles and Libraries

• In Windows 10, libraries are used to provide easy access to different kinds of documents that may be stored in different places. For example, you may store pictures in your pictures folder, on a flash drive, and on a network. You can view all these pictures in one location by adding the locations to a library. Libraries work as a kind of "virtual" folder.

User Profiles and Libraries

• By default, each profile contains libraries for Documents, Music, Pictures, and Videos. You can create new libraries using the toolbar or by right-clicking in the Libraries folder. Right-clicking a library icon allows you to set the locations (folders) it includes and optimize the library display settings for a particular type of file.

Creating a folder

• You can use the shortcut or File menus to create a new folder within another object. Windows has various folder naming rules that must be followed when modifying the folder structure:

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Creating a folder

• No two subfolders within the same folder may have the same name. Subfolders of different folders may have the same name though.

• Folder names may not contain the following reserved characters: \ / : * ? " < > |

• The full path to an object (including any file name and extension) may not usually exceed 260 characters.

Files

• Files are the containers for the data that is used and modified through the operating system and applications. Files store either text or binary data; text data is human-readable, while binary data can only be interpreted by a software application compatible with that file type.

Multiple Choice

What computer systems use the extended Hierarchical File System (HFS)?

• Apple Mac workstations and laptops

• Linux boxes

• Windows operating systems

• Android phones

Multiple Choice

Which option does NOT describe benefit of journaling in Linux?

• Journaling changes the system restart time after a crash.

• Journaling algorithms are sophisticated, thus they perform optimally.

• Journaling will flush the cache at certain points in the journal.

• Journaling gives you the ability to track changes and determine which disk has gone bad.

File Types and Extensions

• Files follow a similar naming convention to folders, except that the last part of the file name represents an extension, which describes what type of file it is and is used by Windows to associate the file with an application. The extension is divided from the rest of the file name by a period. By convention, extensions are three characters. By default, the extension is not shown to the user.

Creating and Opening Files

• System and application files are created when you install programs. User files are created when you use the Save or Save As function of a program. You can also create certain types of files in Explorer by right-clicking in a folder and selecting New, followed by the type of file you want to create.

Creating and Opening Files

• Files are usually opened by double-clicking them, or you may want to open a file in a software product other than the default. When you right-click a file, the shortcut menu displays a list of suitable choices, or you can choose Open With and browse for different application.

Creating and Opening Files

• You can also use the Default Programs applet to configure file associations. When creating and editing text files, you must be careful to use a plain text file format, such as that used by Notepad (a Windows accessory). If you convert a plain text system file to a binary format, it will become unusable.

Multiple Choice

Which of these is NOT considered a best practice policy for naming files?

• Create a consistent naming methodology.

• Use descriptive information in the file names.

• Create a descriptive readme.txt file in the folders.

• Use spaces to add definite breaks in the name.

File Explorer Options

• The File Explorer Options applet in Control Panel controls how Explorer works. The General tab contains options for opening files by single-clicking and for opening folders in the same or new windows.

File Explorer Options

• The View tab contains a long list of options affecting how folders and files are displayed in Explorer (such as whether to show hidden files or file extensions). View settings (such as whether to show thumbnail icons or details) are retained on a per-folder basis but can be reset using the buttons on the View tab.

Renaming Files & Folders

• To rename a file or folder, select it, press F2, then type the new name. You can also right-click the file and select Rename

Copying and Moving files

• Explorer supports multiple methods of moving or copying files. These include:

  • Use the Edit > Cut/Copy/Paste commands from the main menu or shortcut menu or their keyboard shortcuts (CTRL+X, CTRL+C, CTRL+V).

  • Drag and drop the object, holding down CTRL to copy or SHIFT to move (or CTRL+SHIFT to create a shortcut).

Copying and Moving files

• Right-click drag the object and select an option from the shortcut menu displayed when you release the mouse button.

• Use the Edit > Move to Folder/Copy to Folder commands.

• Use the Send To command from the main menu or shortcut menu to copy a file to a disk or send it by email.

Copying and Moving files

• You can choose to overwrite the destination file, cancel the paste operation, or keep both files by renaming the one you are moving or copying (in Windows 8, choose the Compare info for both files option to do this). If doing this with several files, there is also a check box to choose the same option for all conflicts.

Multiple Choice

Which file extension indicates that the file is an audio clip?

• .tiff

• wav

• jpg

• .rtf

Deleting Files and the Recycle Bin

• To delete a file using Explorer, select it then press DEL (or use the shortcut menu). Confirm the action using the prompts. If you accidentally delete a file or folder from a local hard disk, you can retrieve it from the Recycle Bin. A retrieved file will be restored to the location from which it was deleted. The size of the Recycle Bin is limited by default to 10% of the drive's capacity. If large numbers of files are deleted, those files that have been in the Recycle Bin the longest will be permanently deleted to make room for the newly deleted files.

File attributes

• A file's name is just one of its attributes. Other attributes include the date the file was created, accessed, or modified, its size, its description, and the following markers, which can be enabled or disabled:

File properties dialog

• You can set some attributes manually using the file or folder's properties dialog. To open the properties dialog for a file or folder, right-click and select Properties. The properties for a folder will show the size of all the files in that folder (plus any subfolders). The properties for a file (or selection of multiple files) will show the file size.

Folder and File Permissions

• To view, create, modify, or delete a file in a folder, you need the correct permissions on that folder. Permissions can also be applied to individual files. Administrators can obtain full permissions over any file, but standard users can generally only view and modify files stored either in their profile or in the public profile. If a user attempts to view or save a file with insufficient permissions to do so, Windows displays an Access Denied error message.

Multiple Choice

What happens when a user running Word 2003 tries to open a .docx file?

• The file may cause issues, since it is a format that was created in Word 2007 or later.

• The file is opened with WordPad by default, since it is an incompatible file format.

• The file will open normally without any issues, since it was created in Word.

Folder and File Permissions

• To configure permissions, you first select the account to which the permissions apply. You can then set the appropriate permission level. In simple terms, the permissions available are as follows:

• Full control—allows the user to do anything with the object, including change its permissions and its owner.

• Modify—allows the user to do most things with an object but not to change its permissions or owner.

Searching for Folders and Files

• Windows Search enables you to locate files and information located on your computer, within apps, such as email, or on the web. Search makes automatic use of file and folder properties (or metadata) and file contents. In Windows 10, the simplest way to search is to press the START key and type a search phrase. Files, programs, apps, messages, and web pages that match your search are displayed instantly:

Searching for Folders and Files

• In Windows 10, the search box is located next to the Start button. You can type your search text straight into the box, or you can use vocal commands to initiate a search by using Windows Cortana, Windows 10's digital assistant.

Searching for Folders and Files

• In Windows 10, the search box is located next to the Start button. You can type your search text straight into the box, or you can use vocal commands to initiate a search by using Windows Cortana, Windows 10's digital assistant.

File Explorer Search

• To search for files, you can also use File Explorer. The Explorer search box is located in the top-right corner of the window. Pressing F3 in Explorer activates the search box.

• You can open, rename, delete, move, and copy files from the search results as normal. If a basic search does not locate the file you want, you can add a filter to reduce the number of results:

Multiple Choice

What computer systems use the 4th extended file system (Ext4)?

• Android phones

• Windows operating systems

• Linux boxes

• Apple Mac workstations and laptops

Word Processing Software

• The following file formats are often used by word processing software:

  • txt—a text-only file with no "binary" file information linking the file to a particular software application. Any application can open a text file, but this file type cannot store any information about formatting or layout.

  • rtf—Rich Text Format is an early "generic" file format for sharing documents between different word processing applications. It is capable of storing basic formatting information, such as font and paragraph formatting, and layout features, such as tables.

  • odf—the Open Document Format is an XML-based specification with better support for the features of modern word processors than RTF.

  • doc/docx—this format is the one used by Microsoft Word. The docx XML-based format was introduced in Word 2007.

Word Processing Software

Spreadsheet Software

Microsoft's Excel spreadsheet software saves files with an xls or xlsx (Excel 2007 and up) file extension.

Presentation Software

Microsoft's PowerPoint presentation software saves files with a ppt or pptx (PowerPoint 2007 and up) file extension.

PDF Viewers and Creators

Adobe's Portable Document Format (PDF) is a file format for distributing documents. It is now an open standard, so different productivity applications can use it. For example, you could save a Microsoft Word document to PDF format and then open it in the Adobe Reader PDF viewer application. Most web browsers have plug-in PDF viewers. PDF was envisioned as a "final" format for the distribution of a published document.

PDF Viewers and Creators

A PDF should look the same on-screen as it does when printed. It is possible to edit PDFs (using special applications) or to export a document from PDF to another format. In most cases though, it is important to keep a copy of the document in its "native" format. For example, having published a PDF from a Word document file, you would also save the latest changes to the Word file and keep it as the source file for any future changes.

Multiple Choice

What limitations should you consider when comparing different file systems?

• • There are no limitations to consider when reviewing the various file systems.

  
  

  
  

• File systems are limited in terms of their maximum capacity and the size of individual files.

• There are too few options for backing up data, and not all types of data can be backed up successfully depending on the file system in use.

• There is a lack of redundancy across different types of file systems.

Image File Types

DTP (Desktop Publishing) and graphic design applications (and most productivity software) can make use of images in digital file formats. A number of different image file formats have been developed for use in different scenarios:

Image File Types

jpg/jpeg (Joint Pictures Expert Group)—this lossy compression format is the most widely used for photographic pictures. The lossy compression method relies on dithering the image to some extent (changing the color value of some pixels). The user can select a level of compression when saving the file, trading picture quality for reduced file size.

Image File Types

• gif (Graphics Interchange Format)—this is an old lossless compression format. It only supports up to 8 bits per pixel, seriously limiting the available color palette. An 8-bit image can have up to 256 color values. Modern image formats support up to 24 bits per pixel, allowing a palette of millions of color values.

• tiff (Tagged Image File Format)—this is a popular format for exchanging images between editing applications. It can use lossless or JPEG compression.

• png (Portable Network Graphics)—this is a full-color (24-bit) lossless format designed to replace GIF. It also supports transparency.

• bmp—this is a Windows-only lossless format. It is not widely used due to its lack of compatibility with other operating systems.

Multiple Choice

What type of file extension should be opened with caution, as it initiates instructions for the computer to carry out?

• .bmp

• .doc

• .png

• .exe