Patent ID: 7613738

Claim:
A system comprising: a data storage device to store data in a plurality of directories, each of said directories comprising at least two data clusters: a first cluster having no transaction-safe data and at least one remaining data cluster comprising transaction-safe data; a first file allocation table that defines a placeholder cluster as a starting cluster in a sequence of data clusters for a directory, said placeholder cluster referencing a next data cluster in said sequence that comprises transaction-safe data; a second file allocation table being a synchronized copy of said first file allocation table; and a processor to modify transaction-safe data of said directory using said first cluster of said directory, modify said second file allocation table to reference said first cluster of said directory while retaining said placeholder cluster in said second file allocation table as said starting cluster in said sequence of data clusters for said directory, and set a pointer to one of said first file allocation table and said second file allocation table after modifying said transaction-safe data to indicate a last known good file allocation table.