10. Boot Code

• The boot code (located in bytes 0-445 of the MBR) processes the partition table and identifies which partition to boot from.

  • First sector in active (bootable) partition is the boot sector, which has the next step of the boot information.

  • Boot sector code is, therefore, operating system-specific.

• Handling multiple operating systems

  • Windows lets MBR execute and point to Windows bootable code, which lets users select OS

  • Can also replace the MBR boot code to provide the user with a list of choices (e.g., LILO)