[syslinux] COM32 Advice

H. Peter Anvin hpa at zytor.com
Mon Apr 21 10:01:38 PDT 2003


Michael_E_Brown at Dell.com wrote:
> Windows uses several sectors in the _partition_ for booting. Windows only
> uses sector 0 of the Disk (the MBR), and does not use any other sectors.
> Other boot managers and copy protection software (the stuff that comes with
> TurboTax this year uses track 0, evil...)

Yes, anyone who bought a copy-protected program to *keep track of their 
tax records* really deserve what they get.  "No, I'm sorry, IRS, I can't 
send you another copy of my tax return for two years ago... you see, I 
bought a new computer last year..."

> For FAT32, there are 32 sectors that are reserved by the FS, and I've come
> up with the following handy chart for which sectors are used where:

Technically, it can be any number for either FAT12/16 or FAT32, although 
you're right; FAT32 has "official" uses, in particular for the 
superblock and the backup.

Either way, this has nothing to do with Track 0, which contains the MBR.

	-hpa



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