page_title: Disk partitioning
section_title: Multi-boot and mixed-boot systems[clarification needed]
hierarchical_section_title: Disk partitioning / Partitioning schemes / Multi-boot and mixed-boot systems[clarification needed]
caption_attribution_description: English: GRUB, with entries for ubuntu and for Windows Vista
context_page_description: Disk partitioning or disk slicing is the creation of one or more regions on secondary storage, so that each region can be managed separately. These regions are called partitions. It is typically the first step of preparing a newly installed disk, before any file system is created. The disk stores the information about the partitions' locations and sizes in an area known as the partition table that the operating system reads before any other part of the disk. Each partition then appears to the operating system as a distinct "logical" disk that uses part of the actual disk. System administrators use a program called a partition editor to create, resize, delete, and manipulate the partitions. Partitioning allows the use of different filesystems to be installed for different kinds of files. Separating user data from system data can prevent the system partition from becoming full and rendering the system unusable. Partitioning can also make backing up easier. A disadvantage is that it can be difficult to properly size partitions, resulting in having one partition with much free space and another nearly totally allocated.
context_section_description: Multi-boot systems are computers where the user can boot into one of two or more distinct operating systems (OS) stored in separate storage devices or in separate partitions of the same storage device. In such systems a menu at startup gives a choice of which OS to boot/start (and only one OS at a time is loaded).
  This is distinct from virtual operating systems, in which one operating system is run as a self-contained virtual "program" within another already-running operating system. (An example is a Windows OS "virtual machine" running from within a Linux OS.)
caption: A GRUB startup menu showing Ubuntu Linux (with three different boot modes) and Windows Vista options
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