Question

If a hard drive's File Allocation Table was permanently damaged, what would likely happen to the files on it? Write your answer in 1-2 sentences.

(2 points)

Answer 1

If the File Allocation Table (FAT) is permanently damaged, the filesystem can no longer map filenames and directories to the disk clusters, so files will appear deleted, inaccessible, or corrupted to the OS. The raw data usually still exists until overwritten, so some or all files can sometimes be recovered with specialized tools or by rebuilding the FAT, though filenames and folder structure may be lost.