storage and retrieval. For the record, the MBR is always located at cylinder 0,
head 0, and sector 1.Then the disk can be identified to the system as a single physical drive (usu-
ally called C, because the original PCs had an A and B floppy disk drive) or
the disk can be divided into one physical and multiple logical drives. Some
users prefer to subdivide a single large drive into several smaller logical
drives; for example, using C for the operating system and applications, D for
data, and E for graphics and music. The fact is that you can accomplish
essentially the same thing through the use of folders and subfolders, and
most modern applications assume that you will be organizing your system in
that way.The other reason to partition your hard drive into a physical and multiple logi-
cal drives is if you have an older machine whose BIOS or operating system is
not equipped to deal with large drives. Along the course of history of the PC
various roadblocks rose to partition size; any laptop younger than five years
and running a modern operating system (Windows 98, ME, 2000, NT, and XP)
will have no problem dealing with drives of 100GB and even larger.Windows has a built-in partitioning utility, and hard drive manufacturers usu-
ally include an automatic partitioning program with their hardware. And if you
want to try something a bit unusual, several specialized partitioning programs
allow you to install multiple boot sectors — this could allow a sophisticated
user to experiment with different operating systems. For example, you could
choose to experiment with Microsoft’s latest version of Windows in one parti-
tion while keeping your older version in another. Or you could try out Linux
or another O/S in one boot sector and retain Windows in another.One product that handles setup of nonstandard partitions is Norton Partition
Magic, formerly marketed by PowerQuest Corporation.Chapter 7: Easing In to Hard Disks 125
And brains to boot
Impress your friends: The term bootcomes
from the old phrase “lifting yourself up by your
own bootstraps,” which is, of course, a physi-
cal impossibility. Somehow the early computer
designers figured out a way for a computer that
when turned off is merely a collection of metal,
silicon, and glass to figure out a way to bring
itself to life by acting on the simple instructions
in the boot sector.