From: "Rich Gauszka" 


"Geo."  wrote in message
news:42247612$1{at}w3.nls.net...
> >
> c:\> cd $extend
> Access is denied.
>
> hmm, not even read access?
>
> c:\> cd $UpCase
> The directory name is invalid.
>
> and yet it does exist..
>

http://neworder.box.sk/newsread.php?newsid=12473

The Master File Table

The MFT is the core component of the NTFS file system. Through the MFT the
NTFS file system becomes a highly organized array of records containing
information describing the content of your file system. Every instance of
data on your hard disk is described within these records, from the boot
sector to your plain text file.

The first sixteen records of the MFT are dedicated to metadata files. The
metadata files define the structure of the MFT and essentially make it a
self-describing database. The use of metadata files in the MFT should not
be surprising; every database uses some form of metadata to define it's
data structure. The metadata files that are stored within the first sixteen
records of the MFT are as follows:

The MFT

Rec. | File Name  | Description
0    | $Mft       | The Master File Table
1    | $MftMirror | The Master File Table Mirror
2    | $LogFile   | A log file containing a list of transaction steps for
                    NFTS recoverability.
3    | $Volume    | Information about he volume.
4    | $AttrDef   | Defines attributes (discussed later)
5    | .          | The root folder
6    | $Bitmap    | Cluster bitmap representing the volume.
7    | $Boot      | Boot sector (discussed above)
8    | $BadClus   | Contains bad clusters for a volume
9    | $Secure    | Contains security descriptors for all files within the
                    volume.
10   | $Upcase    | Converts lowercase characters to Unicode uppercase
                    characters.
11   | $Extend    | Used for various option extensions (Unique file Ids,
                    Quota Information, Reparse point information, etc.)
12 - 15           | Reserved for future use.

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5