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In computer systems a loader is the part of an operating system that is responsible for loading programs and libraries.It is one of the essential stages in the process of starting a program, as it places programs into memory and prepares them for execution.
A bootloader, also spelled as boot loader [1] [2] or called bootstrap loader, is a computer program that is responsible for booting a computer. If it also provides an interactive menu with multiple boot choices then it's often called a boot manager .
At the end of the hardware initialization, the boot ROM will try to load a bootloader from external peripheral(s) (such as a hard disk drive or solid-state drive, an eMMC or eUFS card, a microSD card, an external EEPROM, and so on) or through specific protocol(s) on a communications port (such as a serial port or Ethernet, etc.).
[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 computer. [5] Early computers used a variety of ad-hoc methods to get a small program into memory to solve this problem.
Note: The column MBR (Master Boot Record) refers to whether or not the boot loader can be stored in the first sector of a mass storage device. The column VBR (Volume Boot Record) refers to the ability of the boot loader to be stored in the first sector of any partition on a mass storage device.
The boot partition is a primary partition that contains the boot loader, a piece of software responsible for booting the operating system. For example, in the standard Linux directory layout (Filesystem Hierarchy Standard), boot files (such as the kernel, initrd, and boot loader GRUB) are mounted at /boot/. [1]
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The boot loader is responsible for accessing the file system on the boot drive, starting ntoskrnl.exe, and loading boot-time device drivers into memory. Once all the boot and system drivers have been loaded, the kernel starts the session manager (smss.exe), which begins the login process.