The Boot-Up Process

"Boot": (from "bootstrap" or "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps") To load and initialize the operating system on a computer.

Operating system: (OS) The low-level software which handles the interface to peripheral hardware, schedules tasks, allocates storage, and presents a default interface to the user when no application program is running.

Software: The instructions executed by a computer, as opposed to the physical device on which they run (the "hardware").

Divide class into 6 groups of 2 or three; each group takes one step in the process and uses these resources (and others) to understand the step and prepare a 5 minute overview fot the class.

1	Power-on Self-Test (POST)	http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=power+on+self+test http://www.techexams.net/technotes/cmos.shtml http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/bootPOST-c.html
2	System initialization (including running BIOS and reading settings from CMOS, Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor)	http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=bios http://www.pcguide.com/ref/mbsys/bios/bootStartup-c.html http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=CMOS http://www.geocities.com/micksmix2000/cmosentry.html http://www.techexams.net/technotes/cmos.shtml
3	Loading Disk Operating System (DOS), found in "master boot record" either on drive "A:" or drive "C:"	http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?disk+operating+system http://www.nondot.org/sabre/os/files/Booting/mbr.txt http://malektips.com/windows_xp_and_dos_help_and_tips.html
4	Configuring system with config.sys	http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=config.sys http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm http://www.ids.net/~jimwy/config.html http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/C/CONFIG_SYS.html
5	Running autoexec.bat	http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=autoexec.bat http://www.computerhope.com/ac.htm http://www.ids.net/~jimwy/autoexec.html http://searchwin2000.techtarget.com/sDefinition/0,,sid1_gci214058,00.html
6	Running Windows (including settings in system.ini, win.ini, etc.); access these using msconfig.exe	http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/w/winini.htm http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/systemin.htm http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/msconfig.htm http://netsquirrel.com/msconfig/

 

Random tidbit: "If "Macintosh" were an acronym, some say it would stand for "Many Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs". While this was true for pre Mac OS 9 systems, it is less true for Mac OS 9, and totally incorrect for Mac OS X, which has protected memory, so even if one application crashes, the system and other applications are unaffected." http://www.johnsguide.com/foldoc/foldoc.cgi?query=macintosh