The term Master Boot Record refers to the first sector of the disk that contains bootstrapping code. Which option reflects this?

The term Master Boot Record refers to the first sector of the disk that contains bootstrapping code. Which option reflects this?

• A. Master Boot Record
• B. System Boot Record
• C. Primary Boot Sector
• D. Boot Manager

Answer: (A)

The Master Boot Record is the first sector of a disk that contains the bootstrapping code used to start the system. On BIOS-based machines, when the computer boots, the BIOS loads the MBR (the very first 512-byte sector, usually sector 0) into memory and executes its small boot program. That code then finds the active partition from the partition table within the MBR and transfers control to that partition’s boot sector to continue the boot process. The MBR also holds the partition table, which defines up to four primary partitions on the disk. The other terms don’t fit because they refer to different things: a System Boot Record isn’t a standard term used for the disk’s boot process; a Primary Boot Sector usually means the boot sector of the active partition (the Partition Boot Record) rather than the disk’s first sector; and a Boot Manager is a separate program that presents OS choices, not the first sector containing bootstrapping code.

The Master Boot Record is the first sector of a disk that contains the bootstrapping code used to start the system. On BIOS-based machines, when the computer boots, the BIOS loads the MBR (the very first 512-byte sector, usually sector 0) into memory and executes its small boot program. That code then finds the active partition from the partition table within the MBR and transfers control to that partition’s boot sector to continue the boot process. The MBR also holds the partition table, which defines up to four primary partitions on the disk.

The other terms don’t fit because they refer to different things: a System Boot Record isn’t a standard term used for the disk’s boot process; a Primary Boot Sector usually means the boot sector of the active partition (the Partition Boot Record) rather than the disk’s first sector; and a Boot Manager is a separate program that presents OS choices, not the first sector containing bootstrapping code.