The present invention discloses methods for an application, running on a host system, to access a restricted area of a storage device, the method including the steps of: providing a file system for running on the host system; restricting access, by the file system, to the restricted area; sending an indication, from the application to the storage device, that data being sent by the application to the storage device via the file system is intended for the restricted area; detecting the indication in the storage device; and making the data, residing in the restricted area, available for reading by the application upon receiving an application request. Preferably, the method further includes the step of: releasing wasted areas, of the storage device, for use by the file system. Preferably, the method further includes the step of: copying non-restricted data from a non-restricted area into the restricted area.