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Asystem file in computers is a criticalcomputer file without which a computer system may not operate correctly.[1][2] These files may come as part of theoperating system, a third-partydevice driver or other sources.Microsoft Windows andMS-DOS mark their more valuable system files with a "system"attribute to protect them against accidental deletion. (Although the system attribute can be manually put on any arbitrary file; these files do not become system files.)
Specific example of system files include the files with.sysfilename extension in MS-DOS. InWindows NT family, the system files are mainly under thefolderC:\Windows\System32. In theclassic Mac OS they are in theSystem suitcase. And inLinux system the system files are located under folders/boot (thekernel itself),/usr/sbin (system utilities) and/usr/lib/modules (kerneldevice drivers).
[...] system files. These files are created and maintained by the operating system and are necessary for the system to perform its many functions. System files are used by many commands and subroutines to perform operations. These files can only be changed by a user with root authority. [...]
When critical Windows system files are missing or corrupted, some Windows features may stop working correctly or Windows may stop responding altogether.
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