Technology Fundamentals
Booting
Definition
Booting (or booting up) is the process of starting a computer. It can be initiated by a hardware event like a button press, or a software command. After it is switched on, a computer's central processing unit (CPU) has no software in its main memory, so some process must load software into memory before it can be executed.
Why It Matters
The boot process is the fundamental sequence of operations that a computer performs to load the operating system and become ready for use. Understanding it is key to diagnosing startup problems.
Contextual Example
When you press the power button, the computer runs the BIOS/UEFI firmware, which performs a Power-On Self-Test (POST), and then loads the operating system (e.g., Windows, macOS) from the storage drive into RAM.
Common Misunderstandings
- A "cold boot" is when you start the computer from a completely powered-off state. A "warm boot" (or reboot) is when you restart the computer without a full power-down.
- The "bootloader" is the specific piece of code that loads the main operating system.