Patent ID: 6874004

Claim:
A method of detecting cross-linked files on a mountable storage media comprising a plurality of blocks, the storage media including at least a first file and a second file and a free space map, wherein each of the first file and second file comprise an allocation of one or more of the plurality of blocks, and wherein the free space map identifies each of the plurality of blocks on the storage media is allocated to at least one file or unallocated, comprising: first reading, in response to a first request to access data on the storage media, allocation of the first file, wherein the allocation of the first file designates one or more of the plurality of blocks including data for the first file; creating a secondary map for identifying blocks on the storage media determined to be allocated to one or more previously accessed files and updating the secondary map to identify the one or more of the plurality of blocks including data for the first file, wherein the secondary map comprises a plurality of bits forming a bitmap; each of the bits in the bitmap corresponding to one of the plurality of blocks on the storage media; second reading, in response to a second request, after the first reading step, allocation of the second file, wherein the allocation of the second file designates one or more of the plurality of blocks including data for the second file; reconciling the allocation of the second file with the free space map; comparing the allocation of the second file with the secondary map to determine whether the allocation of the first file and the second file include at least one common block; and reconciling the allocation of the second file with the a location of the first file.