| File |
An element of
data storage in a file system. A collection
of data or information that has a name, called
the filename. Almost all information stored
in a computer must be in a file. There are
many different types of files: data files,
text files, program files, directory files
etc. |
| File
Level Binary Comparison |
Method of De-duplication
using the digital fingerprint (hash) of a
file. File Level Binary comparison ignores
metadata, and can determine that “SHOPPING
LIST.DOC” and “TOP SECRET.DOC” are actually
the same document. See Content Comparison,
Horizontal De-duplication, Meta Data Comparison. |
| File
System |
The engine that
an operating system or program uses to organize
and kept track of files. More specifically,
the logical structures and software routines
used to control access to the storage on a
hard disk system and the overall structure
in which the files are named, stored, and
organized. The file system plays a critical
role in computer forensics because the file
system determines the logical structure of
the hard drive, including its cluster size.
The file system also determines what happens
to data when the user deletes a file or subdirectory. |
| File
system metadata |
Data that can
be obtained or extracted about a file from
the file system storing the file. Contrast
with document metadata and e-mail metadata. |
| Filename |
The name of a
file. All files have names. Different operating
systems impose different restrictions on filenames.
Most operating systems, for example, prohibit
use of certain characters in a filename and
impose a limit on the length of a filename.
In addition, many systems, including DOS and
UNIX, allow a filename extension that consists
of one or more characters following the proper
filename. The filename extension should indicate
what type of file it is. However, users often
change filename extensions to evade firewall
restrictions or for other reasons. Therefore,
file types must be identified at a binary
level rather than relying on file extensions. |
| Filename
extension |
In DOS and some
other operating systems, one or several letters
at the end of a filename. Filename extensions
usually follow a period (dot) and indicate
the type of information stored in the file.
For example, in the filename LETTER.DOC, the
extension is DOC, which indicates that the
file is a word processing file. See filename. |
| Folder |
In a graphical
user interface, a simulated file folder that
holds data, applications and other folders.
In DOS and Windows 6.1, a folder is known
as a directory, and a subfolder is a subdirectory. |
| Fragmented
data |
When data saved
in contiguous clusters become larger than
contiguous free space, they are then broken
up and randomly placed throughout the storage
space. Such broken-up files are said to be
“fragmented,” and along with damaged and erased
data can only be accessed after special processing.
Fragmentation can also refer to compute discs
where, due to deletion, little contiguous
space exists – this results in slower access
to files as the computer has to read many
locations to retrieve the contents of a file.
De-fragmentation refers to the process of
reorganizing files so that they are more contiguous. |
| FTP
- File Transfer Protocol |
A computer protocol
through which data is transferred directly
from one computer system to another, over
a network or the Internet. |
| Full
Path |
A path name description
that includes the drive (if required), starting
or root directory, all attached subdirectories
and ending with the file or object name. |
| Fuzzy
Searching |
Subjective content
searching (as compared to word searching of
objective data). Fuzzy Searching lets the
user find documents where word matching does
not have to be exact, even if the words searched
are misspelled due to optical character recognition
(OCR) errors. See Context Searching. |
