<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
a	O
directory	B-Application
structure	I-Application
is	O
the	O
way	O
an	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
arranges	O
files	B-Operating_System
that	O
are	O
accessible	O
to	O
the	O
user	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Files	B-Operating_System
are	O
typically	O
displayed	O
in	O
a	O
hierarchical	B-Data_Structure
tree	I-Data_Structure
structure	I-Data_Structure
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
filename	B-Device
is	O
a	O
string	O
used	O
to	O
uniquely	O
identify	O
a	O
file	O
stored	O
on	O
this	O
structure	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
the	O
advent	O
of	O
32-bit	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
file	O
names	O
were	O
typically	O
limited	O
to	O
short	O
names	O
(	O
6	O
to	O
14	O
characters	O
in	O
size	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Modern	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
now	O
typically	O
allow	O
much	O
longer	O
filenames	B-Device
(	O
more	O
than	O
250	O
characters	O
per	O
pathname	B-Application
element	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
Windows	B-Application
,	O
and	O
OS/2	B-Application
,	O
the	O
root	O
directory	O
is	O
"	O
drive	O
:	O
\",	O
for	O
example	O
,	O
the	O
root	O
directory	O
is	O
usually	O
"	O
C:\	O
 "	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
directory	B-Application
separator	I-Application
is	O
usually	O
a	O
"	O
\",	O
but	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
also	O
internally	O
recognizes	O
a	O
"	O
/	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
combine	O
two	O
drives	O
into	O
one	O
virtual	O
drive	O
letter	O
,	O
by	O
setting	O
a	O
hard	O
drive	O
into	O
a	O
RAID	B-Architecture
setting	O
of	O
0	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
FolderDescription	O
\PerfLogsMay	O
hold	O
Windows	B-Application
performance	O
logs	O
,	O
but	O
on	O
a	O
default	O
configuration	O
,	O
it	O
is	O
empty.	O
\Program	O
Files32-bit	O
architecture	O
:	O
All	O
programs	O
(	O
both	O
16-bit	O
and	O
32-bit	O
)	O
are	O
installed	O
in	O
this	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
64-bit	O
architecture	O
:	O
64-bit	O
programs	O
are	O
installed	O
in	O
this	O
folder.	O
\Program	O
Files	B-Operating_System
(	O
x86	O
)	O
Appears	O
on	O
64-bit	O
editions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
32-bit	O
and	O
16-bit	O
programs	O
are	O
by	O
default	O
installed	O
in	O
this	O
folder	O
,	O
even	O
though	O
16-bit	O
programs	O
do	O
not	O
run	O
on	O
64-bit	O
Windows.	O
\ProgramData	O
(	O
hidden	O
)	O
Contains	O
program	O
data	O
that	O
is	O
expected	O
to	O
be	O
accessed	O
by	O
computer	O
programs	O
regardless	O
of	O
the	O
user	O
account	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
which	O
they	O
run	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
program	O
may	O
store	O
specific	O
information	O
needed	O
to	O
operate	O
DVD	O
recorders	O
or	O
image	B-Application
scanners	I-Application
connected	O
to	O
a	O
computer	O
,	O
because	O
all	O
users	O
use	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Windows	B-Application
itself	O
uses	O
this	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Defender	I-Application
stores	O
its	O
virus	O
definitions	O
in	O
\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows	O
Defender	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programs	O
do	O
not	O
have	O
permission	O
to	O
store	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
this	O
folder	O
,	O
but	O
have	O
permission	O
to	O
create	O
subfolders	O
and	O
store	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
them	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
organization	O
of	O
the	O
files	B-Operating_System
is	O
at	O
the	O
discretion	O
of	O
the	O
developer.	O
\UsersUser	O
profile	O
folders	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
has	O
two	O
folder	O
like-items	O
called	O
"	O
Default	O
User	O
"	O
(	O
an	O
NTFS	O
junction	O
point	O
to	O
"	O
Default	O
"	O
folder	O
)	O
and	O
"	O
All	O
Users	O
"	O
(	O
a	O
NTFS	O
symbolic	O
link	O
to	O
"	O
C:\ProgramData	O
 "	O
)	O
.	O
\PublicThis	O
folder	O
serves	O
as	O
a	O
buffer	O
for	O
users	O
of	O
a	O
computer	O
to	O
share	O
files	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
\SysWOW64These	O
folders	O
store	O
dynamic-link	O
library	O
(	O
DLL	O
)	O
files	B-Operating_System
that	O
implement	O
the	O
core	O
features	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
Windows	B-Library
API	I-Library
.	O
</s>
<s>
only	O
appears	O
on	O
64-bit	O
editions	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
and	O
stores	O
32-bit	O
DLLs.	O
\WinSxSThis	O
folder	O
is	O
officially	O
called	O
"	O
Windows	B-Application
component	O
store	O
"	O
and	O
constitutes	O
the	O
majority	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
copy	O
of	O
all	O
Windows	B-Application
components	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
all	O
Windows	B-Application
updates	O
and	O
service	O
packs	O
is	O
stored	O
in	O
this	O
folder	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Starting	O
with	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
and	O
Windows	B-Device
Server	I-Device
2008	I-Device
R2	I-Device
,	O
Windows	B-Application
automatically	O
scavenges	O
this	O
folder	O
to	O
keep	O
its	O
size	O
in	O
check	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
security	O
reasons	O
and	O
to	O
avoid	O
the	O
DLL	O
Hell	O
issue	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
enforces	O
very	O
stringent	O
requirements	O
on	O
how	O
the	O
files	B-Operating_System
in	O
this	O
folder	O
are	O
organized	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unix	B-Application
and	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
operating	I-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
use	O
the	O
Filesystem	B-Application
Hierarchy	I-Application
Standard	I-Application
as	O
the	O
common	O
form	O
for	O
their	O
directory	B-Application
structures	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
files	B-Operating_System
and	O
directories	O
appear	O
under	O
the	O
root	O
directory	O
"	O
/	O
"	O
,	O
even	O
if	O
they	O
are	O
stored	O
on	O
different	O
physical	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
