File System FAT16

This is the 16-bit version of the FAT file system. The 16-bit part describes the way units are allocated on the drive. The FAT16 file system uses a 16-bit number to identify each allocation unit (called cluster), and this gives it a total of 65.536 clusters. The size of each cluster is defined in the boot sector of the volume (volume = partition). The File System ID number usually associated with FAT16 volumes are 04h and 06h. The first is used on volumes with less than 65536 sectors (typical this is on drives less than 32 Mb in size), and the latter one is used on volumes with more than 65536 sectors.

Basic Structure

 

The FAT16 file system structure contains the following regions:

FAT16 File System Structure

Region
Reserved Region (incl. Boot Sector)
File Allocation Table (FAT)
Root Directory
Data Region

The first sector (boot sector) contain information which is used to calculate the sizes and locations of the other regions. The boot sector also contain code to boot the operating system installed on the volume. The data region is split up into logical blocks called clusters. Each of these clusters has an accompanying entry in the FAT region. The cluster specific entry can either contain a value of the next cluster which contain data from the file, or a so called End-of-file value which means that there are no more clusters which contain data from the file. The root directory and its sub-directories contain filename, dates, attribute flags and starting cluster information about the filesystem objects.

Boot Sector

The first sector in the reserved region is the boot sector. Though this sector is typical 512 bytes in can be longer depending on the media. The boot sector typical start with a 3 byte jump instruction to where the bootstrap code is stored, followed by an 8 byte long string set by the creating operating system. This is followed by the BIOS Parameter Block, and then by an Extended BIOS Parameter Block. Finally the boot sector contain boot code and a signature.