Booting the computer
saying, “Pulling one’s self upby one’s own bootstraps,” which is a long-winded way of
saying you are a self-starter. PCs are self-starters in the respect that when you flick on the
power switch, the PC verifies its hardware configuration, runs a few function tests, and
then gets its operating system loaded into memory and running on the CPU. It’s almost
like magic…well, not quite.
The boot process is performed under the guidance of the BIOS. The BIOS contains the in-structions needed to verify, test, and start the PC—in other words, boot the computer. When the
computer boots up, the BIOS is behind the scenes causing and managing the actions that are
taking place. The PC’s hardware cannot perform independent actions. It must have instructions
to do anything at all. These instructions are in the form of the PC’s software, which are blocks of
instructions that guide the hardware to perform specific activities.
The process used to start up a PC each time it is powered on is called theboot process.
While it sounds like it could refer to kick-starting, this term is actually derived from thesaying, “Pulling one’s self upby one’s own bootstraps,” which is a long-winded way of
saying you are a self-starter. PCs are self-starters in the respect that when you flick on the
power switch, the PC verifies its hardware configuration, runs a few function tests, and
then gets its operating system loaded into memory and running on the CPU. It’s almost
like magic…well, not quite.
computer boots up, the BIOS is behind the scenes causing and managing the actions that are
taking place. The PC’s hardware cannot perform independent actions. It must have instructions
to do anything at all. These instructions are in the form of the PC’s software, which are blocks of
instructions that guide the hardware to perform specific activities.
