The 1st sector of a hard disk is sometimes called:

Question

Options

• AThe partition sector.
• BThe FAT (File Allocation Table)
• COn hard disks, the first sector is called variously the master boot record, the partition sector, or the
• DThe boot sector.

• A
  81% (25)
• B
  3% (1)
• C
  13% (4)
• D
  3% (1)

Explanation

Option A is correct because the first sector of a hard disk - more formally known as the Master Boot Record (MBR) - is also commonly referred to as the partition sector, since it contains the partition table that describes how the disk is divided. This sector resides at cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1, and is the first thing the BIOS reads during startup.

Why the distractors are wrong:

• B (FAT): The File Allocation Table is a filesystem-level structure that tracks file locations within a partition - it lives well beyond the first sector and is unrelated to the MBR.
• C: Though partially true (the first sector is called the MBR, partition sector, etc.), this option appears to be an incomplete sentence, making it an invalid/malformed choice.
• D (Boot sector): This term more precisely refers to the first sector of an individual partition (the Volume Boot Record), not the first sector of the entire disk - a subtle but important distinction.

Memory tip: Think "Partition sector = Physical disk's first sector." Both start with P, and the partition table - stored in that very first sector - is what physically maps the whole disk's layout.

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