Questions tagged [mft]

The Master File Table (MFT) is the list maintained by Windows on any NTFS volume that describes the location of files at the block level.

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Leading zeros in the Cluster Chain Run of an NTFS MFT record?

I have an example pulled from a hard disk at my house where the NTFS $MFT file contains zeros in the least-significant places of the Cluster Chain Run. Interpreted little-endian, this doesn't make any ...
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How do you interpret the Cluster Chain Run in an NTFS MFT record?

For mostly academic reasons, I've been learning how to interpret the Cluster Chain Run from the Data Attribute Block from an MFT Record from a NTFS volume. I watched a video that walks through an ...
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Calculating MFT for NTFS based Dynamic vhd

I am trying to calculate MFT offset from master boot section of NTFS filesystem of Dynamic VHD. The Little Endian cluster location of this Dynamic VHD MFT is highlighted: which is then further ...
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How to recover file system access after losing non-mirrored MFT records?

After I unplugged my external drive after a phony safe removal on Ubuntu, two sectors are destroyed. The important sector contained records 4 to 7 (which is $AttrDef, $ (root), $Bitmap and $Boot) of ...
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How to check if a folder is empty in remote MTF server from power shell script?

I want to check if a folder is empty or not in a MFT server. I want to do it with a .sh script. I have credentials to access the account service where the files are loaded. Not sure how to begin. ...
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Sending a file to the recycle bin makes its MFT filename change. What if you cut the file and paste into external drive?

I have read (https://alexsta-cybersecurity.com/what-happens-when-a-file-is-deleted-on-a-windows-system/) that if you have a file and you delete it so it goes to the recycle bin, the MFT entry for that ...
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Typically how long does the MFT (Master File Table) contain filename information about deleted files? [closed]

Say I have a file which is 5 megabytes. If I delete it (and delete it from recycle bin) and run "cipher /w:C:" on my drive, it should be unrecoverrable. What about its entry in the MFT? I ...
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Data recovery from a formated usb drive

I recently made a stupid mistake, instead of changing my .kdbx file on google drive, I changed one I had on USB drive with the same name. The USB drive was later formatted and used as windows ...
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Random corruption of MFT in external drives require CHKDSK for fix

I have this problem for months now. I am getting my external drives MFT corrupt. When i run CHKDSK afterwards, most of the time i get the files back in their places. I have changed external disks + ...
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How to repair master file table (MFT) mirror, even after formatting?

(Note: this is not a duplicate of Insufficient disk space to repair master file table (MFT) mirror, since that didn't have an answer and that issue was fixed by reformatting the disk.) I'm trying to ...
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Interrupted partition aligning and disk corrupted

So, I was resizing my partition and accidentally aligned it to the left. I didn't noticed it and it successfully resized it. Then it started to align the partition and I was thinking this was some ...
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Resizing NTFS partition by altering total sectors in boot record

I am trying to create an easy way of deploying empty virtual disks by expanding a NTFS formatted 5MB image into whatever size I need. I've been studying the NTFS structure for a while now (from here), ...
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Is "fsutil behavior query mftzone" for all partitions in Windows 8.1 64-bit?

I have 2 HDDs and 5 partitions in them, and I can't find this question answered on DuckDuckGo, Google nor Microsoft; the command doesn't allow to specify a drive letter, so I suppose is for all ...
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What is the effect of disk defragmentation on the Master File Table in NTFS?

In my oppinion, as MFT stores descriptions of all te files(name, security, list of attributes and etc.), disk defragmentation won't influence MFT content. Am i right?
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NTFS partition no longer accessible, 3 MFT records corrupted, way to fix them?

I have a 2TB Seagate ST2000DM001 HDD with one NTFS partition. I hadn't used it in months, when I plugged it again this partition had inexplicably become inaccessible : the volume's letter appears in ...
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Wiping free space - NFTS, exFAT?

I'm trying to wipe some of my older (NTFS, external) hard drives, but even after using 'Wipe free space' programs like CCleaner and Eraser, the file names are still visible in file recovery programs. ...
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Rebuild massively fragmented files with a partial image and a list of their sectors

In an attempt to recover as much data as possible off of a failing 3TB HDD, I proceeded like this : I made a surface scan with HD Sentinel, which identified two small damaged areas and about 100 bad ...
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Insufficient disk space to repair master file table (MFT) mirror

I borrowed an empty 500GB Toshiba HDD from a friend of mine. I have a 1 TB HDD installed in my laptop which I needed to clone to the new 500GB HDD. I quick formatted the drive 500GB HDD just to be ...
Jaspreet Singh's user avatar
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Partition recovery for NTFS partition with corrupted MFT [duplicate]

The affected SSD is removed from a laptop with 4 partitions to be used in an external enclosure, one primary partition (C:) cannot be found in Windows, but could be read in Ubuntu. After I was trying ...
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Broken NTFS' MFT and mirror

Windows was running chkdsk, battery emptied during that, and laptop shut down. When I start it up, I get something like: Disk read error I tried booting from Window's disk and running chkdsk /f /r, ...
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SSD TRIM Garbage Collection and affect on MFT Meta Data (security)

Does the way a SSD with trim and garbage collection handle deleted files make any changes to the deleted files MFT meta data entries for tiny files? What affect specifically do SSD's have on tiny ...
Jacob's user avatar
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Maximum size of file that can be stored entirely in NTFS Master File Table (MFT)

I'm using Windows 7 and NTFS. I've noticed the MFT is a huge security risk because it can store sensitive document files without user knowledge for a long time before they get overwritten. All tests ...
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MFT Zone is not 12.5% (Zone 1) ? Huh?

I recently became aware of MFT Zone, which is one of four levels: 1, 2, 3, 4. An NTFS volume is formatted with default Level 1, or 12.5% according to Microsoft (unless user specifies different level)....
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Is there a copy of the main MBR and MFT on a drive?

I'm talking about something like a backup copy located on a drive, in addition to the main. If there is, how would I be able to retrieve it and write the backup back to the main partition?
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Corrupted HDD: lost partitions, shrunken drive, damaged boot sectors, CHS and LBA mismatch

So yesterday I received a "dead" 1TB WDC WD10 JVPX-22JC3T0 laptop HDD from a relative. I never really faced anything like this before, but I tried. History: It had been used in a Windows machine, ...
P. Zoltan's user avatar
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2 answers
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High response times in HDD. MFT, fragmentation or even halted disk?

I am experiencing really high response times im my HDD, which can go around 13000ms (from Win8 Task Manager). This occurs when starting up windows and for at least 3-4 minutes, also when doing ...
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How to delete a file with a bad file name? [duplicate]

I had a file downloaded from torrent by a media center device on an external hard disk. The file has an invalid filename such as "Movie ** 480p ** NEW.wmv" (without the quotes). I cannot delete or ...
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MFT information for alternate data stream names

I have been working on retrieving file information from MFT. I see that the MFT record has info regarding standard info, file names, data and few other attributes. I tried parsing the MFT record to ...
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There is a way to move $MftMirr other then using PerfectDisk?

I'm trying to resize a Windows 7 system partition, but I can't move some files placed in the middle of the volume. I'd like to shrink the partition further then by half and I don't like the idea of ...
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1 answer
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Corrupt NTFS partition's MFT – Which tool is right? What tool to fix?

I used Avira Rescue Disk (Ubuntu 12.04) to access a broken NTFS boot partition. Windows 7 fails to mount it: it displays a bluescreen ("UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME") and restarts immediately. With the ...
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3 answers
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MFT is corrupt, cannot read its unmapped extend record

I am running a dual boot installation (Windows 7, Ubuntu 64bit) with a shared NTFS partition. Windows was running over night. I normally shut down the computer the next morning. The other day when I ...
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2 answers
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Mark Deleted Files as Undeleted

The capacity of my hard drive is 500 GiB. 150 GB of data got deleted accidently. I didn't write any byte to the drive after that incident, so my data is guaranteed to be there. I have tried apps like ...
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How to remove obsolete users from ACLs and other unneeded data from an NTFS drive?

I have a hard-drive on which I have re-installed Windows many times with numerous users which have accessed numerous files. I’ve also plugged the drive into other Windows computers with other users. ...
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MFT / NTLDR / NTFS (external drive) damaged after ntfsresize (Linux)

I have had an external USB drive attached to a RaspberryPi (headless), 1.5 TB Volume, 100% partition NTFS. During this question Creating ext4 partition from console, my goal was to change the overall ...
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What does it mean to "Repair the MFT"

My computer will not boot because of a corrupted MFT and MFT mirror, I found a program that claims to be able to repair the MFT (Getdataback) but all it seems to do is recover the files that were on ...
Devon M's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
6k views

why don't file search utilities just load and parse the MFT? [duplicate]

I've noticed when I search for a file by name (in Windows or Linux) it's typically a disk-intensive process, especially in Windows. It seems that the utility (Windows Search, or "find" in Cygwin) ...
Stephen's user avatar
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Why do data-recovery programs often recover files without the original names/structure?

Why do data-recovery programs often recover files without the original names/structure? For instance, I use PhotoRec, I think it is a very good application for recovery purposes but everything it ...
TwirlMandarin's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
17k views

How to fix NTFS MFT if chkdsk hangs?

Once my external has became too slow I've ran chkdsk /f. And it has found no problems. Next time (in a day approximately) I've ran it it still found no problems in files, indices and security ...
Ivan's user avatar
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8 votes
7 answers
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How can I move the MFT to end of contiguous used space?

I want to move the MFT to end of contiguous used space. Right now it is placed at the middle: I want to move it to the beginning. How can I do that?
Rocky Singh's user avatar
6 votes
2 answers
12k views

Tool to repair MFT or NTFS journal on a disk which underwent failed hibernation

I've read through some of the posts related to corrupt or not working NTFS partitions, but without a proper solution for my case. Here it is: my system is SSD on mini PCI express (PCIe), with Windows&...
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Recover files that are still there

A few days ago, after bringing my USB-HDD from home and connecting it to my work PC, Windows 7 has automatically showed the "Check Disk window" (the one that you get, when you right-click on the ...
Brian Johnson's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
11k views

How to move MFT on Windows 7

I am currently in the process of cloning my HDD to a SSD. As the HDD (320 GB) is bigger than the SSD (120 GB) it was recommended that the HDD be shrunk to a smaller size than the SSD. Using ...
Rob Sloot's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
10k views

Is it possible to backup the MFT in Windows? - NTFS

I experienced my first crashed Hard Drive a few days back, luckily it was not the primary disk and was just full of software which I could reinstall on. I tried several utilities like Easeus ...
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Restoring Corrupt TrueCrypt Volume/Container (broken MFT)

My hardware doesn't seem to like me anymore :-/ I have a 500 GB external HDD (NTFS) which contains a "standard" (= not hidden) TrueCrypt container of 400 GB of which about 100-150 GB are actually ...
rappster's user avatar
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How can I view the NTFS system files?

For example, the master file table $Mft is one of the NTFS system files. How can I view the properties of these files (e.g. size)?
Martin's user avatar
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Journaling Folder Size Utility

I have been fascinated with Everything recently. It is a very simple utility that can manage to find stuff incredibly fast on NTFS because it reads the MFT and journal. Is there similar utility for ...
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28 votes
6 answers
107k views

How do you defragment the MFT on an NTFS disk?

A while ago, I nearly filled my hard drive, much more than the recommended maximum of 85% of capacity. I believe that NTFS started storing files in the space reserved for the Master File Table (MFT) ...
WBT's user avatar
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How do I copy the boot sector from one computer to another?

I have a pair of identical computers. One of them stopped booting the other day (it gets past the BIOS screen then goes black). Booting from a USB recovery stick I've verified that the partition is ...
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6 votes
3 answers
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Is is possible to restore the MFT of a NTFS partition after a format?

I've searched through several questions but didn't quite find anyone treating mine. So, I have a 1TB external hard drive I use for backup purposes with only 1 NTFS partition. Today using DiskPart I ...
Ariadne Sousa's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
13k views

Windows not showing correct free space on my hard drive

I recently upgraded my laptop's secondary HDD from a 320GB Western Digital to a 640GB Samsung. Before performing the hardware swap, I created a disk image of my drive, and saved it to an external USB ...
Chris C.'s user avatar
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