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In computing, booting is the process of starting a computer as initiated via hardware such as a physical button on the computer or by a software command. After it is switched on, a computer's central processing unit (CPU) has no software in its main memory , so some process must load software into memory before it can be executed.
Once all the boot and system drivers have been loaded, the kernel starts the session manager (smss.exe), which begins the login process. After the user has successfully logged into the machine, winlogon applies User and Computer Group Policy setting and runs startup programs declared in the Windows Registry and in "Startup" folders. [5]
An initramfs-style boot is similar, but not identical to the described initrd boot. At this point, with interrupts enabled, the scheduler can take control of the overall management of the system, to provide pre-emptive multi-tasking, and the init process is left to continue booting the user environment in user space.
In x86 computers, a first-stage bootloader is a compact 512-byte program that resides in the master boot record (MBR) and executes when a computer starts. Running in 16-bit real mode at address 0x7C00, it performs minimal hardware initialization, sets up a basic execution environment, and locates the second-stage bootloader.
The boot ROM is either placed on the same die as the CPU or is an external ROM chip. On modern systems, the boot ROM (whether integrated into CPU or external ROM chip) is usually use NOR flash which supports execute in place. The boot ROM will then initialize the hardware busses and peripherals needed to boot.
Anyone who could switch on the computer could boot it. [citation needed] Later, 386-class computers started integrating the BIOS setup utility in the ROM itself, alongside the BIOS code; these computers usually boot into the BIOS setup utility if a certain key or key combination is pressed, otherwise the BIOS POST and boot process are executed.
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This category is for articles about booting, the process of starting a computer from scratch and loading an operating system. The term booting is a shortened form of term bootstrapping . Subcategories