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An example of a computer with multiple operating systems per storage device is a dual-booting computer that stores both Windows and Linux on the same disk drive but where the BIOS in the system does not let the user boot individual drives and partitions.
When a computer is turned off, its software—including operating systems, application code, and data—remains stored on non-volatile memory. When the computer is powered on, it typically does not have an operating system or its loader in random-access memory (RAM).
GNU GRUB (short for GNU GRand Unified Bootloader, commonly referred to as GRUB) is a boot loader package from the GNU Project.GRUB is the reference implementation of the Free Software Foundation's Multiboot Specification, which provides a user the choice to boot one of multiple operating systems installed on a computer or select a specific kernel configuration available on a particular ...
The Multiboot specification is an open standard describing how a boot loader can load an x86 operating system kernel. [1] [2] The specification allows any compliant boot-loader implementation to boot any compliant operating-system kernel. Thus, it allows different operating systems and boot loaders to work together and interoperate, without the ...
Double boot (also known as cold double boot, double cold boot, double POST, power-on auto reboot, or fake boot) is a feature of the BIOS, and may occur after changes to the BIOS' settings or the system's configuration, or a power failure while the system was in one of certain sleep modes.
Boot is short for bootstrap [1] [2] or bootstrap load and derives from the phrase to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps. [3] [4] The usage calls attention to the requirement that, if most software is loaded onto a computer by other software already running on the computer, some mechanism must exist to load the initial software onto the ...
A modern PC is configured to attempt to boot from various devices in a certain order. If a computer is not booting from the device desired, such as the floppy drive, the user may have to enter the BIOS Setup function by pressing a special key when the computer is first turned on (such as Delete, F1, F2, F10 or F12), and then changing the boot order. [6]
Since Windows NT 3.1 (the first version of Windows NT), [4] Microsoft has defined the terms as follows: The system partition (or system volume) [5] is a primary partition that contains the boot loader, a piece of software responsible for booting the operating system. [6]: 1087 This partition holds the boot sector and is marked active. [7]: 970