Why computer drive starts from c drive?

 

Why Does the Computer Drive Start from the C Drive?

Have you ever wondered why the primary storage drive on a computer is labeled C: instead of A: or B:? The answer to this goes back to the early days of computing when floppy disks were the main form of data storage.

The Early Days: Floppy Disks (A and B Drives)

Before hard drives became common, computers relied on floppy disks as their primary storage medium. These were removable disks used to store and transfer data.

1. Drive A: The first computers came with a 5.25-inch floppy disk as the primary storage device. It was assigned the letter A by default.
2. Drive B: Later, an improved 3.5-inch floppy disk was introduced, which was more compact and offered better durability. This was assigned the letter B.

Since floppy disks were the main storage method at the time, computers were designed to boot from these drives.

The Introduction of Hard Drives (C Drive)

As technology evolved, hard disk drives (HDDs) were introduced. Unlike floppy disks, hard drives were permanently installed inside the computer and provided much larger storage capacity. Since A and B were already assigned to floppy drives, the first hard disk drive was given the next available letter: C.

Why Don't We See A and B Drives Anymore?

With the decline of floppy disks in the late 1990s and early 2000s, manufacturers stopped including them in computers. Today, most systems no longer have A and B drives, but Windows and other operating systems continue the tradition of starting hard drives from C:.