The process of starting or resetting a computer. When first turned on (cold boot) or reset (warm boot), the computer executes the software that loads and starts the computer’s more complicated operating system and prepares it for use. Thus, the computer can be said to pull itself up by its own bootstraps. Also called: bootstrap. See also BIOS, bootstrap loader, cold boot, warm boot.
Or bootstrap; In computing, the process of starting up a computer. Most computers have a small, built-in boot program that starts automatically when the computer is switched on—its only task is to load a slightly larger program, usually from a hard disc, which in turn loads the main operating system.
In microcomputers the operating system is often held in the permanent ROM memory and the boot program simply triggers its operation.
Some boot programs can be customized so that, for example, the computer, when switched on, always loads and runs a program from a particular backing store or always adopts a particular mode of screen display. + prikaži više