System partition and boot partition: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:56, 2 February 2018

Revision as of 11:32, 2 February 2018

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==Common definition==

In context of every operating system, save those developed by [[Microsoft]], the system partition and the boot partition are defined as follows:

*The ''boot partition'' is a [[primary partition]] that contains the [[boot loader]], a piece of software responsible for [[booting]] the [[operating system]]. For example, in the standard [[Linux]] directory layout ([[Filesystem Hierarchy Standard]]), boot files (such as the [[Linux kernel|kernel]], [[initrd]], and boot loader [[GRUB]]) are #mounted at <code>/boot/</code>.<ref>{{cite book|last=Petersen|first=Richard|title=Ubuntu The Complete Reference|year=2009|publisher=McGraw-Hill|___location=New York|isbn=0-07-y164368164368-0|page=473|chapter=Chapter 21: Basic System Administration}}</ref> Despite Microsoft's radically different definition (see below), System Information, a utility app included in [[Windows NT]] family of operating systems, refers to it as "boot device".<ref>{{cite book |last=Andrews |first=Jean |first2=James |last2=Chellis |title=A+ Guide to Software |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=9781285414980 |page=21 |edition=6th}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Donald |first=Lisa |title=MCSA / MCSE: Windows Server 2003 Environment Management and Maintenance Study Guide: Exam 70-290 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=9780470327616 |pages=116–117 |edition=2nd |date=2008}}</ref>

*The ''system partition'' is the disk partition that contains the operating system folder, known as the ''system root''. By default, in Linux, operating system files are mounted at <code>/</code> (the [[root directory]]).