Microsoft KB Archive/934979

= Description of the effects of file placement in the MFT when you use Disk Commander to recover data =

Article ID: 934979

Article Last Modified on 7/29/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Winternals Administrator's Pak 4.2
 * Winternals Administrator's Pak 5.0

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SUMMARY
This article describes the effects that file placement in the Master File Table (MFT) has on data recovery when you use Disk Commander.

Note Disk Commander is a data recovery tool. Disk Commander is a component of Winternals Administrator's Pak.



MORE INFORMATION
The MFT keeps a list of all files that are written to the disk. The MFT never removes an entry. The MFT only marks the entry as deleted when you delete the file.

When a file is marked for deletion in the MFT, the file's location and data still exists on the disk. However, the file entry can be overwritten with new data. Data with a recent file entry in the MFT is more likely be overwritten by new disk writes. Data with an older file entry in the MFT is less likely be overwritten by new disk writes.

If you create a new file, you delete the file, you empty the from the Recycle bin, and then you try to recover the file by using Disk Commander, the data recovery tool test may cause a failure. A file that you create and that you immediately delete will probably be overwritten immediately on the disk by general system usage, based on its entry in the MFT.

Additional query words: Winternals KB#: 30080, MFT, data, recovery,,disk commander

Keywords: kbinfo kbexpertiseinter KB934979

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