A file change log is a file that records high-level changes to files within a file system, such as changes to file names, modification dates, and access permissions. It is read-only for all programs except the operating system and can be used by various programs to quickly check for changes made to the system.
A file change log is a physical file on a computer storage device that maintains a list of the different changes made to files and directories within a file system. The file change log does not necessarily track specific changes made to the data contained in a file; instead, it keeps track of the more generalized information about the file contained in the file system namespace. In most implementations, a file change log can be accessed as a read-only file by an application so that the information it contains is available, but only special system functions within the operating system can make registry changes; this preserves its integrity and prevents malicious modifications. Several programs are able to use the file change log to avoid having to scan every file within a file system to determine if any changes have been made. Archiving software, virus scanners, Internet search engine indexers, and network administration suites can all use a file change log to quickly check for any changes made to your system since the last time a program was run.
Within a file system, a file change log is designed to track high-level changes to files rather than atomic changes to data stored within the file. This means that the registry can record changes to the file name, the date the file was last modified, or changes to the access permissions of a file. What it doesn’t track are more specific changes, such as exactly which program accessed the file, the location of the data that was changed, or what system functions were used to make the changes.
An actual file change log is a file within the file system that it is monitoring. The file can be available like any other file, allowing any program to open and display the information, or it can be a hidden system file and intended to be viewed only through the use of operating system calls, a method that acts as a gateway in registry protection. In both situations, the file is read-only for all programs except the primary operating system to keep the file tidy and to prevent tampering. Writing changes to the log file is done only by the operating system, sometimes after a change has been made or other times as part of an automatic update process.
External programs that use the file change log usually do so to avoid having to use time-consuming procedures that manually go through every file and directory within a file system to look for changes. It can also be used by archiving programs or web crawlers to prevent programs from having to process previously processed information, instead focusing only on files that have changed since the last crawl. Network administrators can use the registry to track any suspicious activity, such as file permission changes, which would otherwise be much more difficult to track.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
