John,
I’ve never done a thorough check but it would be an interesting test. I think I’ve always found more files and folders with the Master File Table than with FindFirst/FindNext. If you use the standard .Net Directory.GetFiles() function it tests each file/folder name and throws an exception if it finds a bad name. FindFirst/FindNext lets you find all of the files.
So here is the interesting test. Collect up all the files and all of the folders on a volume both ways and write out the differences… Those found one way and not the other and vice versa.
StCroixSkipper
I have implemented this test. The code is available for download on the Codeplex site. http://usnjournal.codeplex.com/
There is a huge speed hit trying to convert the FileReferenceNumber into a Path. Its so slow that it negates the whole point of using the MFT at the moment but it might just be something i've not looked into yet.
See what you think.... BTW it takes forever to do the comparison so don't use it on a huge drive just yet. I need to add some hashing or something to speed up the lookups.
Cheers