STEPS INVOLVED IN STARTING A COMPUTER The following steps explain what occurs during a cold boot on a personalcomputer using

the Windows XP operating system: STEP 1: When we turn on the computer, the power supply sends an electrical signal tothe components in the system unit. STEP 2: The charge of electricity causes the processor chip to reset itself and find theROM chip that contains the BIOS. The BIOS, which stands for BASICINPUT/OUTPUT SYSTEM, is firmware that contains the computers startupinstructions. STEP 3: The BIOS executes a series of tests to make sure the computer hardware isconnected properly and operating correctly. The tests, collectively called the power-on-self test (POST), check the various system components including the buses,system clock, adapter cards, RAM chips, mouse, keyboard and drives. As the POSTexecutes, LEDs (tiny lights) flicker on devices such as the disk drives and keyboard.Several beeps also sound and messages are displayed on the screen. STEP 4: The POST results are compared with data in a CMOS chip. CMOS is atechnology that uses battery power to retain information when the computer is off.The CMOS chip stores configuration information about the computer such as theamount of memory, type of disk drives, keyboard and monitor, the current date andtime and other startup information. It also detects any new devices connected to thecomputer. If any problems are identified, the computer may beep, display error messages or cease operating depending on the severity of the problem. STEP 5: If the POST completes successfully, the BIOS searches for specific operatingsystem files called system files. Usually, the operating system looks first to see if a disk is in drive A (the designation for a floppy disk drive). If drive A contains a disk,the BIOS checks the disk for system files. If drive A does not contain a disk or if thesystem files are not on a disk in drive A, the BIOS looks in drive C (the designationusually given to the first hard disk). Some computers also look in a CD or DVD drivefor system files. STEP 6: Once located, the system files load into memory (RAM) from storage (usuallythe hard disk) and execute. Next, the kernel of the operating system loads intomemory. Then, the operating system in memory takes control of the computer. STEP 7: The operating system loads system configuration information. In WindowsXP, the registry consists of several files that contain the system configurationinformation. Windows XP constantly access the registry during the computersoperation for information such as installed hardware and software devices andindividual user preferences for mouse speed, passwords and other user-specificinformation.

1.the computer is switched on. 2.computer loads data from rom and checks whether all the major components like processor,hard disc are functioning properly. 3.computer loads bios(basic input/output system) from rom to determine the machine's fundamental configuration and environment. 4.computer loads the operating system from the secondary storage(hard disc) into ram .this allows the cpu to have immediate access to the operating system ,which enhances the performance and functionality of the overall system.

When we start the computer it follows a routine of processes. This routine is called the booting process. The booting process is finished until an operating system is loaded into the memory. When we star the computer, it first activates a memory called BIOS. BIOS is stand for Basic Input Out Systems and is pronounced as "bye-ose". The BIOS contains the programs to control the peripheral devices like (Keyboard, display screen, disk devices, mouse and etc.) All these peripheral devices are checked by the BIOS. The amount of RAM and its integrity is also checked. If the RAM or any basic peripheral device has error then the BIOS displays a error message. Then the BIOS finds the boot loader. The boot loader then loads the operating system. The operation system then starts, loads itself into the memory and takes control of the computer. Every task is done with the help of the operating system. This operating may reside on several kinds of storage devices. Such as Hard Disk, Floppy Disk, Network, CD-ROM or flash boot loader. The boot sector is the part of the storage device which contains the start of booting. We can set the boot sequence in the BIOS setting. The boot sequence defines how to find the boot loader