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EC-Council

312-49 · Question #75

When the operating system marks cluster as used, but does not allocate them to any file, such clusters are known as ___________.

The correct answer is A. Lost clusters. A - Lost Clusters. Lost clusters (also called lost allocation units) occur when the operating system marks clusters as 'used' in the File Allocation Table (FAT) or equivalent structure, but no file or directory is actually linked to those clusters. This can happen due to…

Submitted by dimitri_ru· Apr 18, 2026Disk Forensics

Question

When the operating system marks cluster as used, but does not allocate them to any file, such clusters are known as ___________.

Options

  • ALost clusters
  • BBad clusters
  • CEmpty clusters
  • DUnused clusters

How the community answered

(57 responses)
  • A
    95% (54)
  • B
    4% (2)
  • C
    2% (1)

Explanation

A - Lost Clusters. Lost clusters (also called lost allocation units) occur when the operating system marks clusters as 'used' in the File Allocation Table (FAT) or equivalent structure, but no file or directory is actually linked to those clusters. This can happen due to improper shutdowns, software crashes, or file system corruption. They waste storage space and can be recovered using tools like CHKDSK. They are distinguishable from bad clusters (physically damaged) or free/unused clusters.

Topics

#Lost clusters#File system#Disk structure#Data integrity

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