BOOT DISK
\bˈuːt dˈɪsk], \bˈuːt dˈɪsk], \b_ˈuː_t d_ˈɪ_s_k]\
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The magnetic disk (usually a hard disk)from which an operating system kernel is loaded (or"bootstrapped"). This second phase in system start-up isperformed by a simple bootstrap loader program held in ROM,possibly configured by data stored in some form of writablenon-volatile storage.MS-DOS and Microsoft Windows can be configured (in theBIOS) to try to boot off either floppy disk or harddisk, in either order. By default they first check for thepresence of a floppy disk in the drive at start-up and tryto use that as a boot disk if present. If no disk is in thedrive they then try to boot off the hard disk.Some operating systems, notably SunOS and Solaris, canbe configured to boot from a network rather than from disk.Such a system can thus run as a diskless workstation.
By Denis Howe
Word of the day
Platidiam
- An inorganic water-soluble platinum complex. After undergoing hydrolysis, it reacts DNA produce both intra interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks appear to impair replication and transcription of DNA. The cytotoxicity cisplatin correlates with cellular arrest in G2 phase cell cycle.