What is a logical drive?

A logical drive refers specifically to a partition on a physical disk. When a physical disk (such as a hard drive or SSD) is divided into sections, each section operates as an independent storage unit. These sections are known as partitions, and each partition can be formatted with a file system and used to store files. By assigning drive letters (like C:, D:, etc.) to these partitions, the operating system allows users to interact with them as if they were separate drives, even though they may reside on the same physical hardware.

This distinction between logical drives and physical disks is important in understanding how computer storage is organized and managed. Physical disks represent the hardware component itself, while logical drives provide a way to delineate and organize the space available for data storage within that hardware.