The EFI System partition (ESP) is a partition on a data storage device that is used by machines that adhere to the Extensible Firmware Interface. It contains the boot loader programs for all operating systems installed (in other partitions) on the device, device driver files (used by the firmware at boot time) for other devices, and system utility programs that are intended to be run before an operating system is booted.
The EFI System partition is formatted using the FAT12, FAT16 or FAT32 file system. The globally unique identifier for the EFI System partition in the GUID Partition Table scheme is C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B. Its ID in the MBR partition table scheme is 0xEF. Whether a disk contains an EFI System partition is unrelated to the partition table scheme (GPT or MBR) that it uses.
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“The system was breaking down. The one who had wandered alone past so many happenings and events began to feel, backing up along the primal vein that led to his center, the beginning of hiccup that would, if left to gather, explode the center to the extremities of life, the suburbs through which one makes one’s way to where the country is.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)