Inside the Windows 95 file system

This book will walk you through the inner workings of the Windows 95 file system. The standard file systems which ship with Windows 95 include: VFAT, the virtual FAT file system; VREDIR, the Microsoft Networks client; and NWREDIR, the Microsoft Netware client. These and other file systems supplied by third party developers register with the Installable File System Manager, or IFSMgr, to make their services available to the system. IFSMgr manages the resources which are currently in use by each file system and routes client requests to the intended file system.

This book anticipates some of the changes to the file system which will appear in the successor to Windows 95 (code-named Memphis). These new features include FAT32, support for volumes up to 2 terabytes in size, and WDM (the Win32 Driver Model). The Microsoft Networks file and printer sharing protocol-the SMB (Server Message Block) protocol-is also undergoing some changes to make it suitable for accessing the Internet. SMB’s future extension to the Internet as CIFS (the Common Internet File System) is also examined.

Yet another old article (or book in this case) from the ’90s world of Windows – this book was published in 1997.