Management of FAT32 File System
Rohini Tewatia, Heena Dhiman, Rajneesh Gujral, Sachin Dhiman · BENTHAM SCIENCE PUBLISHERS eBooks · 2025
File Allocation Table (FAT) is a file system that maintains track of where files are placed on a disk and how much storage space is available for new files. The FAT file system is divided into several sections that are arranged in a specific order. Initially, the boot sector holds the data that the file system requires in order to access the volume. The allocation table region includes a file index to the system. Small disks as well as basic folder structures were the original targets of the FAT file system's design. It is still utilized in drives that are meant to run multiple operating systems, like those found in shared environments for Linux, DOS, and Windows. The cluster number for the FAT file system needs to be a power of two and fit in 16 bits. FAT32 is so straightforward and has such a long history, nearly every operating system supports it. Moreover, Windows permits NFTS and FAT32 to live together on a system. ExFAT, the successor to FAT32, supports files and partitions up to 128 petabytes, or 128,000 terabytes, and comes with more options and more storage capacity than FAT32. There are some FAT security factors to consider such as hardening, passwords and several more will be covered in a later section.