Patent ID: 8583708

Claim:
A computing device comprising a file system and a computer-readable medium that stores information within a volume on the computer readable storage medium, comprising: the volume stored on the computing device, the volume comprising: a file allocation table component comprising a file allocation table for use by the file system; and a plurality of primary directory entries configured to specify data in a file system, each primary directory entry comprising type information designating that primary directory entry as either a critical primary directory entry or a benign primary directory entry; the file system, when enumerating directory entries during a process of mounting the volume, identifying each primary directory entry as a critical primary directory entry or a benign primary directory entry based on its type information; the file system, when enumerating directory entries during a process of mounting the volume, preventing the volume from being mounted when the file system does not recognize any primary directory entries identified, using their respective type information, as a critical primary directory entry; and the file system, after the volume has been mounted and during a file access operation, ignoring a primary directory entry identified, using its type information, as a benign primary directory entry when the file system does not recognize the benign primary directory entry.