System partition and boot partition

In Microsoft Windows, the system partition and boot partition use terminology than can be misleading:

• The system partition is a disk partition that contains the master boot record, boot sector and files such as NTLDR that are needed for booting Windows XP and earlier. (Windows Vista and Windows Server 2008 use a newer boot loader called bootmgr that replaces NTLDR and is configured using BCDEdit.exe).

• The boot partition is the disk partition that contains the Windows operating system files and its support files, but obtusely, not any files responsible for booting.

The system partition can be different from the boot partition, although they are often on the same partition. Windows setup places the initial system partition based on motherboard BIOS settings. Bitlocker requires a separate, unencrypted system partition for booting.

See also

• Windows NT Startup Process
• Windows Vista Startup Process
• EFI System Partition

References

• Definition of System and Boot Partition (NT)
• Definition of System Partition and Boot Partition (XP)