| Active Partition |
The partition that is currently being used for booting. |
| BIOS |
The program that runs first when a computer boots up and manages the system's hardware and firmware. |
| Bootloader |
A program that loads the operating system into computer memory at boot time. |
| CMOS |
Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor, small amount of memory that stores system configuration settings. |
| Cylinder |
A set of tracks on a hard drive that are at the same distance from the center of the platter. |
| Disk Cloning |
Copying an entire hard drive to another hard drive while preserving data and file structure. |
| Disk Imaging |
Creating an exact copy of a hard drive, including the operating system and all data files, as an image file that can be used to restore the original system or to create multiple identical systems. |
| Dual-Boot |
The ability to boot into two different operating systems on the same machine. |
| Extended Partition |
A partition that can't be booted from, used to create more logical partitions. |
| Firmware |
Software that is permanently stored on hardware, such as the BIOS or a hard drive controller. |
| GRUB |
GRand Unified Bootloader, a popular bootloader used on Linux and Unix systems. |
| Head |
A component of a hard drive that reads and writes data to the platters. |
| Logical Partition |
A partition within an extended partition, used to store data files. |
| MBR |
Master Boot Record, the first sector of a computer's hard drive that contains information about the organization and partitioning of the drive. |
| Partition |
A section of a hard drive that is treated as a separate storage device by the operating system. |
| Partition Table |
A table located at the beginning of a hard drive that contains information about the location and size of each partition. |
| Platter |
A disk-shaped component of a hard drive that stores data. |
| Primary Partition |
A partition that can be booted from, used to store operating system files. |
| Sector |
The smallest unit of storage on a hard drive, usually 512 bytes. |
| UEFI |
Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, a modern replacement for BIOS that provides better security and support for newer hardware. |
