File Systems, Drives, and Disk Defragmentation

All data on a storage medium, such as a hard disk or flash drive, is encoded as a single enormous list of ones and zeroes.

A _________ is a big clump of ones and zeroes that go together.

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• 
• 
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Which of the following are stored in an image file's metadata?

Select ALL that apply.

• file's total size

• the image's height and width

• the color depth

• other information the computer needs to process the file

Which of the following are common image extensions?

Select ALL that apply.

• .jpg

• .mp3

• .png

• .bmp

Answer explanation

.mp3 is an audio file format.

.bmp is for a bitmap file, which is not a common image file type. Bitmap files are not compressed, so they fell out of use when the Internet gained popularity.

Match each file system feature with its definition.

• Encryption

• a way to prevent unauthorized people from accessing sensitive information

• Compression

• a way of making data consume less storage space

• directory file

• a special file that keeps track of the information in storage

• Journaling

• when the file system makes a note in its log about file changes

True or False:

Modern file systems frequently hit their maximum file size limit.

• True

• False

Answer explanation

It's false!

A modern file system, like the NTFS file system used by Windows, has a maximum file size limit of 16 exabytes. That's enough space to store every single YouTube video in a single file. This limit is so large that it's impossible that a single file would ever approach the limit.

Which of the following is a .doc file name that the NTFS system would allow?

• Baseball/Basketball Scores.doc

• Birthday: Supplies and To-Do List.doc

• Book_Report.doc

• What Are My Expenses?.doc

Match each term with its definition.

• root directory

• the directory that contains all the subdirectories

• directory file

• the specific location where a file can be found in a file system

• folder

• another name for a subdirectory

• file path

• a special file that keeps track of the information in storage

A typical desktop computer system may have ​ (a)   for the operating system and key programs and ​ (b)   for file storage. It might also have ​ (c)   for CDs and DVDs.

• a solid-state drive (SSD)
• a hard disk drive (HDD)
• an optical drive
• a floppy disk drive

Match each drive with its usual function.

• reads floppy disks

• D drive
• contains operating system

• C drive
• reads CDs, DVDs, etc.

• A drive

​ ​ (a)   refers to dividing a single physical disk into multiple logical drives called volumes. ​

​ (b)   refers to when parts of a new file or application are stored in different areas of the physical disk.

• Partitioning
• Fragmentation
• Defragging
• Rebooting