What is the difference between primary partition and extended partition?

A new hard disk needs to be partitioned before it can be used normally. The most common partition table type for hard disk partitions is MBR, which is divided into three categories: primary partition, extended partition and Logical partition.

Let’s take a look at the difference between the primary partition and the extended partition:

1. Primary partition

The primary partition is also called the boot partition , Windows The system generally needs to be installed in this primary partition to ensure that it automatically enters the system when it is turned on. To put it simply, the primary partition is a disk partition that can boot the computer to read files.

A hard disk can create up to 4 primary partitions at the same time. When the four primary partitions are created After that, extended partitions and logical partitions can no longer be created. In addition, the primary partition is independent and corresponds to the first partition on the disk. Currently, most computers generally divide the C drive into primary partitions when partitioning.

2. Extended partition

Extended partition is a concept. It is not actually visible on the hard disk and cannot be used directly.

Except for the primary partition, the remaining disk space is the extended partition. When a hard disk allocates all its capacity to the primary partition, there is no extended partition. Only when the primary partition capacity is smaller than the hard disk capacity, the remaining space belongs to the extended partition. The extended partition can continue to be expanded and divided into multiple logical partitions. Partition.

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