Patent ID: 7856451

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of modifying an end-user storage medium that has a plurality of file data stored thereon according to a particular file system, the plurality of file data including a first subset of the plurality of file data and a second subset of the plurality of file data, the method comprising: rendering the second subset of the plurality of file data accessible, wherein the first subset of the plurality of file data includes a first plurality of individually-identified files, and wherein the rendering further includes: providing a first set of metadata describing the plurality of file data, wherein the first set of metadata includes a panoplex set of directory information that identifies locations on the end-user storage medium at which the plurality of file data is stored, and wherein the first set of metadata is located in storage other than the end-user storage medium and the first set of metadata is not stored on the end-user storage medium unless and until at least a portion of the panoplex set of directory information is copied to the end-user storage medium; receiving a first command that distinguishes between the first subset of the plurality of file data and the second subset of the plurality of file data; and based on the first command, creating a second set of metadata in locations on the end-user storage medium, wherein the second set of metadata includes a second subset of the panoplex set of directory information, wherein the creating includes copying directory information corresponding to the second subset of the plurality of file data from the first set of metadata located in storage other than the end-user storage medium into the locations on the end-user storage medium used for the second set of metadata, but not copying directory information corresponding to the first subset of the plurality of file data to the end-user storage medium, such that the second subset of the panoplex set of directory information identifies locations on the end-user storage medium at which the second subset of the plurality of file data is stored, and wherein a substantial portion of the first plurality of individually-identified files remains intact on the end-user storage medium.