

That is to say sometimes it is the system reserved partition, and sometimes it is the drive C.Īnd generally, system partition should be set active to make Windows boot successfully.


To sum up, partitions saving Windows boot programs like BOOTMGR and BCD or NTLDR and boot.ini is called system partition, not limited to drive C. However, there may be multiple boot partitions. Once a system reserved partition is created, there can only be one system partition on this disk no matter how many operating systems are installed, because boot programs of all installed Windows operating systems will be saved to this partition automatically. The partition which is marked as system reserved (100MB for Windows 7 and 350MB for Windows 8, 500 MB for Windows 10) in Disk Management is the very system partition while drive C now is only a boot partition. If we make a Windows installation on a never-used hard disk ( the disk having no partition), these 2 partitions will be separate. For example, if we install Windows XP on drive C and Windows Vista on drive D, both C and D can be called boot partition or system partition.īut since Windows 7, system partition and boot partition can be either separate or merged. However, if more than 1 operating system is installed, there can be more than 1 system partition or boot partition. In old versions of Windows OS, system partition and boot partition are contained in the same partition, and it is always the drive C. It is marked as System in both Disk Management and MiniTool Partition Wizard.īoot partition is the partition saving files for Windows operating system (usually\WINNT), and it is marked as Boot. the boot configuration database ( BCD) which replaces original boot.ini.

Windows boot manager ( BOOTMGR) which replaces NTLDR used on earlier Windows OS like Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.System partition is the partition mainly holding: How to Distinguish System partition and Boot partition Here I will show you how to distinguish system partition and boot partition. Which Partition Should Be Set Activeīefore I show you how to set system partition active, you need to know something about system partition and boot partition, because both of them play significant roles in booting Windows. This post contains 3 parts, including which partition should be set active, why this partition should be set active, and how to set the correct partition active. Here Are 2 Solutions after Accidentally Marking Drive C Active.
