<s>
The	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
and	O
the	O
boot	B-Application
partition	I-Application
(	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
system	O
volume	O
and	O
the	O
boot	B-Application
volume	I-Application
)	O
are	O
computing	O
terms	O
for	O
disk	B-Application
partitions	I-Application
of	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
or	O
solid-state	B-Device
drive	I-Device
that	O
must	O
exist	O
and	O
be	O
properly	O
configured	O
for	O
a	O
computer	O
to	O
operate	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
context	O
of	O
every	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
,	O
except	O
those	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
,	O
the	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
and	O
the	O
boot	B-Application
partition	I-Application
are	O
defined	O
as	O
follows	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
boot	B-Application
partition	I-Application
is	O
a	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
that	O
contains	O
the	O
boot	B-Application
loader	I-Application
,	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
software	O
responsible	O
for	O
booting	B-Operating_System
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
in	O
the	O
standard	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
directory	O
layout	O
(	O
Filesystem	B-Application
Hierarchy	I-Application
Standard	I-Application
)	O
,	O
boot	B-Operating_System
files	O
(	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
kernel	B-Operating_System
,	O
initrd	B-Application
,	O
and	O
boot	B-Application
loader	I-Application
GRUB	B-Application
)	O
are	O
mounted	O
at	O
/boot/	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Despite	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
radically	O
different	O
definition	O
(	O
see	O
below	O
)	O
,	O
System	O
Information	O
,	O
a	O
utility	O
app	O
included	O
in	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
family	I-Device
of	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
,	O
refers	O
to	O
it	O
as	O
"	O
boot	B-Operating_System
device	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
is	O
the	O
disk	B-Application
partition	I-Application
that	O
contains	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
folder	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
system	O
root	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
By	O
default	O
,	O
in	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
,	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
files	O
are	O
mounted	O
at	O
/	O
(	O
the	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Linux	B-Operating_System
,	O
a	O
single	O
partition	B-Application
can	O
be	O
both	O
a	O
boot	B-Operating_System
and	O
a	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
if	O
both	O
/boot/	O
and	O
the	O
root	B-Application
directory	I-Application
are	O
in	O
the	O
same	O
partition	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
3.1	I-Device
(	O
the	O
first	O
version	O
of	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
)	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
has	O
defined	O
the	O
terms	O
as	O
follows	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
(	O
or	O
system	O
volume	O
)	O
is	O
a	O
primary	O
partition	B-Application
that	O
contains	O
the	O
boot	B-Application
loader	I-Application
,	O
a	O
piece	O
of	O
software	O
responsible	O
for	O
booting	B-Operating_System
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
partition	B-Application
holds	O
the	O
boot	B-Device
sector	I-Device
and	O
is	O
marked	O
active	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
boot	B-Application
partition	I-Application
(	O
or	O
boot	B-Application
volume	I-Application
)	O
is	O
the	O
disk	B-Application
partition	I-Application
that	O
contains	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
folder	O
,	O
known	O
as	O
the	O
system	O
root	O
or	O
%systemroot%	O
in	O
Windows	B-Device
NT	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
the	O
system	O
and	O
boot	B-Application
partitions	I-Application
were	O
,	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
and	O
were	O
given	O
the	O
"	O
C	O
:	O
"	O
drive	O
letter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
Windows	B-Device
7	I-Device
,	O
however	O
,	O
Windows	B-Application
Setup	I-Application
creates	O
,	O
by	O
default	O
,	O
a	O
separate	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
that	O
is	O
not	O
given	O
an	O
identifier	O
and	O
therefore	O
is	O
hidden	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
boot	B-Application
partition	I-Application
is	O
still	O
given	O
"	O
C	O
:	O
"	O
as	O
its	O
identifier	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
configuration	O
is	O
suitable	O
for	O
running	O
BitLocker	O
,	O
which	O
requires	O
a	O
separate	O
unencrypted	O
system	B-Application
partition	I-Application
for	O
booting	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
Windows	B-Application
11	I-Application
,	O
this	O
nomenclature	O
is	O
still	O
used	O
by	O
the	O
"	O
Disk	O
Management	O
"	O
utility	O
.	O
</s>
