A+ Certification/Exam Objectives/Windows 7

WINDOWS VISTA / 7 BOOT PROCESS

 * 1) BIOS runs POST.
 * 2) Computer finds the boot device and loads Master Boot Record (MBR) into RAM.
 * 3) MBR looks for the active partition on the boot device and loads the boot sector.
 * 4) The boot sector in turn starts the bootmgr file, which loads the operating system.
 * 5) bootmgr configures the computer’s processor to recognize all of the memory.
 * 6) bootmgr starts the file system and the operating system loads. Windows Vista/7 must be NTFS.
 * 7) bootmgr checks the BCD and bootsect.bak files to find the operating system(s) and to create the boot menu.
 * 8) After the operating system is selected, bootmgr makes the hardware list.
 * 9) bootmgr loads Ntoskrnl.exe, which is the kernel of the operating system.
 * 10) The operating system starts the graphical user interface.
 * 11) Ntoskrnl.exe loads Smss.exe, which is the Session Manager.
 * 12) The user logs on.