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Day 25. Operating System Installation and Booting > Windows Boot Process
Windows Boot Process
An unbootable PC that says “Missing Operating System” or “Missing NTLDR” means the BIOS cannot find the boot files and it is time to check the boot sequence in the BIOS. The boot process does not stop there. Here are the steps in order. Be sure you learn this process for the A+ exam.
Note
The boot process presented here is specific to Windows XP. This process is slightly different for different versions of Windows, so make sure you learn the steps each Windows version uses to boot.
1. POST (power-on self test).
2. BIOS reads MBR (master boot record).
3. MBR takes control and loads NTLDR (New Technology Loader).
4. NTLDR reads BOOT.INI to know which OS and which partition to boot. (This has changed in Vista and 7. BOOT.INI is used only when dual booting older versions and newer versions.)
