DOCUMENT:Q100525  25-AUG-1993  [W_NT]
TITLE   :INF: Definition of System and Boot Partition
PRODUCT :Windows NT
PROD/VER:3.10
OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
KEYWORDS:

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The information in this article applies to:
 
 - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
 - Microsoft Windows NT Advanced Server version 3.1
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The names commonly used for the partitions containing Windows NT
startup and operating system files, however unintuitive they may seem,
are for the system and boot partitions, respectively.
 
System Partition
----------------
 
The system partition refers to the disk volume containing hardware
specific files needed to boot Windows NT (NTLDR, BOOT.INI, and so on).
On Intel x86-based machines, it must be a primary partition that has
been marked active. On x86 machines, this is always drive 0, the drive
the system BIOS searches during system boot for the operating system.
 
Boot Partition
--------------
 
The boot partition contains the Windows NT operating system files
(usually \WINNT) and it support files (usually \WINNT\SYSTEM32). It
can be the same partition as the system partition.
 
Additional reference words: 3.10 winnt

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Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.