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A boot loader, also called a boot manager, is a small program that places the operating system (OS) of a computer into memory. When a computer is powered-up or restarted, the basic input/output system (BIOS) performs some initial tests, and then transfers control to the master boot record (MBR) where the boot loader resides. Most new computers are shipped with boot loaders for some version of Microsoft Windows or the Mac OS. If a computer is to be used with Linux, a special boot loader must be installed. For Linux, the two most common boot loaders are known as LILO (LInux LOader) and LOADLIN (LOAD LINux).
A boot loader is a computer program that loads an operating system or some other system software for the computer after completion of the power-on self-tests; it is the loader for the operating system itself. Within the hard reboot process, it runs after completion of the self-tests, then loads and runs the software. A boot loader is loaded into main memory from persistent memory, such as a hard disk drive or, in some older computers, from a medium such as punched cards, punched tape, or magnetic tape. The boot loader then loads and executes the processes that finalize the boot. Like POST processes, the boot loader code comes from a "hard-wired" and persistent location; if that location is too limited for some reason, that primary boot loader calls a second-stage boot loader or a secondary program loader.
According to the wikipedia entry, a bootloader is a small program stored in ROM(a part of the main memory(RAM), isn't it??) which can only be read and not erased. I am a little puzzled here. Does this mean that every RAM we buy has a bootloader installed by default? And also, I read from a book which says that there is typically an area called the MBR (Master Boot Record) on the hard drive which includes a bootloader...
It's what loads the operation system when the computer starts
Bootloader is a piece of code that runs before any operating system is running. Bootloader are used to boot other operating systems, usually each operating system has a set of bootloaders specific for it. Bootloaders usually contain several ways to boot the OS kernel and also contain commands for debugging and/or modifying the kernel environment. In this talk we will concentrate on Linux bootloaders. Since it is usually the first software to run after powerup or reset, it is highly processor and board specific.
Small program that place the OS into Memory
TThe bootloader is the first thing that starts up when a PC/Phone is turned on. Bootloaders is universal to virtually all Operating systems that inculcates operating systems on your PC, laptop, smartphones, and other such devices. Bootloaders basically package the instructions to boot operating system kernel and most of them also have their own debugging or modification environment
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