FAT32 File System

Introduction

The FAT32 file system is an update of the industry standard FAT file system.

The Symbian platform FAT32 file system implementation supports the FAT12, FAT16 and FAT32 file systems types.

Background information

The following are features of the FAT32 file system:

It is used for storing user-data on NAND Flash, internal RAM drives and removable media e.g. SD cards, MMC cards.

FAT32 features

FAT32 provides the following features:

• Can handle much larger drives than is possible with the FAT file system.

• There is a maximum upper limit for the size of a drive.

• When files are deleted and written to the media, then files can become scattered over the media (fragmentation) leading to slower access times. This can be addressed by executing a defragmentation utility, however this is a time consuming process and on some media, e.g. memory cards, this process cannot be undertaken.