PARTITION

 

 PARTITION

A partition is a part or section of hard disk. To make a new hard disk usable, it must contain at least one partition. The hard disk can also be split into multiple partitions, so that you can separate your data. You can also install different operating systems on different partitions, or format partitions with different file systems all within the same hard disk. The operating system assigns each partition a drive letter.

The first drive is C, as A and B are reserved for floppy drives. When you boot your computer, control is given to the first sector on your hard disk called the boot sector. This contains the partition table, which stores details about all the partitions on the disk, and points to the relevant operating system and hands over control to it. There are dedicated tools available to manage partitions, but be warned, making changes to your partitions may prevent your computer from booting and may lead to loss of data.