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Topic 5a Booting in Windows XP PDF

This document provides an overview of the Windows XP boot process including the power-on self-test, initial startup files, boot loader, detecting hardware, troubleshooting options, and how the kernel loads. It also discusses editing the Boot.ini configuration file, installing multiple operating systems including the recommended order, and allowing different systems to peacefully coexist.

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Theo Ndeda
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23 views

Topic 5a Booting in Windows XP PDF

This document provides an overview of the Windows XP boot process including the power-on self-test, initial startup files, boot loader, detecting hardware, troubleshooting options, and how the kernel loads. It also discusses editing the Boot.ini configuration file, installing multiple operating systems including the recommended order, and allowing different systems to peacefully coexist.

Uploaded by

Theo Ndeda
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Course Code :

BISF 1104

Course Description:
Installation and Customization
Lesson 5 : Booting in Windows XP

Lecturer Name: Eric G Kariuki


Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0721487915
Booting Windows XP
Objectives
 Understand the Windows XP boot process
 Troubleshoot system restoration by using Safe
Mode
 Explain the operation of the key Windows XP
startup files
Objectives
 Understand the boot options offered through
the Windows Advanced Options Menu
 Edit the Boot.ini file to manipulate the boot
process
 Understand how multiboot configurations are
created and how they function
The Boot Process
 Process of bringing up a completely functional
computer
 This process is broken down into two major
phases:
 Boot phase
 Load phase
The Boot Process
 Boot phase
 Any of a number of stages in the Windows XP boot
process
 Load phase
 The Windows XP load phase begins when the kernel
assumes control of the machine
Power-On Self Test (POST)
 First step in the boot sequence for any computer
with an operating system
 Determines the amount of real memory, and
whether or not all necessary hardware components
are present
 The actual tests can differ, depending on how the
BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is
configured
Power-On Self Test (POST)
 The software for the POST resides in a special,
battery-powered chip called the CMOS
(complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor)
 This chip can store:
 The software necessary to conduct the POST
 Basic configuration information that the post uses to check the
amount of RAM installed in a system
Power-On Self Test (POST)

Figure 13-1: The POST display on a PC


Power-On Self Test (POST)

Figure 13-2: Output from the BIOS on an Adaptec 2940 SCSI controller
Initial Startup
 The initial startup sequence involves numerous files
and initialization procedures
 The first sector of the hard disk contains the
Master Boot Record (MBR) and the partition
table
 If you are booting from a floppy disk, the first
sector contains the partition boot sector
Initial Startup

Table 13-1: Windows XP Startup Files


Initial Startup
 In general, the MBR is independent of the
operating system
 Ntldr
 Program that locates and loads the Windows XP
operating system files in the root folder
Initial Startup
 System partition
 Partition that contains the MBR and partition boot
sector
 Boot partition
 Partition that contains the Windows XP files
Boot Loader
 Boot loader processing and files:
 Select an operating system to boot
 Load the related operating system files from the
boot partition
Boot Loader

Figure 13-3: The


system partition on
a typical Windows
XP system
Boot Loader
 Boot selection menu
 Represents the point at which users can select which
operating system they would like to load
 Also called the boot loader screen
Boot Loader

Figure 13-4: A typical Windows XP boot selection menu


Detecting Hardware
 Ntdetect.com is executed by the boot loader and
is used to collect a list of hardware currently
installed in the computer
 Once hardware is detected, the system needs to
select a system configuration
 Otherwise known as a hardware profile
Troubleshooting and Advanced
Startup Options

Figure 13-5: The Windows Advanced Options Menu


Boot Configuration and Selecting
an Operating System
 The Windows XP boot configuration can be
controlled through its configuration file, Boot.ini
 This file consists of two sections:
 [boot loader]
 [operating systems]
Boot Configuration and Selecting
an Operating System

Figure 13-6: Boot.ini viewed through Notepad


[boot loader]
 Contains two or more items:
 Timeout
 This setting defines the number of seconds the system
waits for the user to select an operating system before
loading the default operating system
 Default
 This setting in Boot.ini lists the path to the default
operating system
[operating systems]
 Lists the available operating systems
 Each listing contains:
 The path to the boot partition for the operating
system
 The text displayed in the boot loader screen

 Optional parameters
Advanced RISC Computing
Pathnames
 In the Boot.ini file, the path pointing to the
\WINDOWS directory is written using the
Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) pathname
 Advanced RISC Computing (ARC) pathname
 Naming convention used in the Boot.ini file to define the
particular hard disk and partition where Windows XP operating
system files reside
Advanced RISC Computing
Pathnames
 Scsi(n) or multi(n)
 Disk(n)
 Rdisk(n)
 Partition(n)
 \path
Editing Boot.ini
 To make changes to a Boot.ini file, the user has
two options:
 Use the Control Panel to edit this file indirectly
 Use a text editor to change the file directly
Using the Control Panel
 Using the
Control Panel to
make changes to
Boot.ini is the
safest way to
proceed

Figure 13-7: The Advanced tab of the System applet


Using the Control Panel

Figure 13-8:
The Startup
and
Rediscovery
dialog box
Using a Text Editor
 You can use Notepad or any other text editor to
edit Boot.ini
 As with any initialization file, you should be
careful when editing the file
 If you configure the file incorrectly, Windows
XP might not boot
Windows XP Load Phase
 The Windows XP load phase consists of the
following five stages:
 Loading the kernel
 Initializing the kernel

 Services load

 Windows XP system start

 Logging on
Loading the Kernel
 Control set
 A special set of Registry values that describes a
Windows XP machine’s startup configuration that is
saved each time:
 A Windows machine is shut down
 A user successfully logs on for the first time after bootup
Loading the Kernel

Figure 13-9: The HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Select


subkey viewed through Regedit
Initializing the Kernel

 After its initialization, the kernel creates the Registry


key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\HARDWARE
 The kernel also creates the CloneControlSet by
making a copy of the CurrentControlSet
 The kernel then initializes the drivers that were loaded
by the boot loader
Initializing the Kernel
 If drivers experience errors as they load, they
send conditions to the kernel that determines
how the error is treated:
 Ignore
 Normal

 Severe

 Critical
Services Load, Windows XP
System Startup, and Logging On
 Services load
 During the services load phase, the kernel starts the Session
Manager
 Windows XP system startup
 This brief but meaningful phase of the process is signaled by
the appearance of the Windows XP logon screen as the
Win32 subsystem starts winlogon.exe
 Logging on
 Until a user successfully logs on, the boot process is not
complete
Multiple-Boot Systems
 One of the biggest advantages of the Windows XP
operating system is its ability to peacefully coexist
with other operating system
 Each operating system uses one or more file
systems to organize the data within the volumes
 Some operating systems can use the same file system,
whereas others are incompatible
Multiple Windows Operating
Systems
 Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11, Windows 95/98,
Windows NT, and Windows 2000 can all exist on the
same system as Windows XP
 When Windows XP is to be installed on a system with
another operating system—especially some previous
version of Windows—it is important to specify a
different installation partition
 If you plan to use applications from the different
versions of Windows you have installed, you must
install the application from each operating system
Multiple Installation Order
 When installing multiple operating systems on x86-
based computers, the order in which you install the
operating systems is important
 When installing multiple versions of Windows XP
or Windows 2000 onto the same system, it really
doesn’t matter which one is installed first
 As a general rule, install the newest operating
system last and the oldest first

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