for instance i know that when my pc is turned on it performs two tasks (Power on self test and then looks for the operating system), im aware about POST but when the boot program locates a disc in a drive then i get lost as im sure it extracts the ' boot record' from that disk places it onto \nrandom access memory , iniates the two hidden system files and then.......................i get stuck, help
208476
(regarding a Windows PC not MAC)\n\nA boot disk gives your computer the files necessary to start up and run the programs.  \n\nUsually this should not bother you turning on your computer, it should just go through it's little process then open your Windows programs and go about your business.  If you press certain F keys it will bring you into the boot process screen, where you can tell it to boot from floppy, cd, C:drive in what order.  I wouldn't mess with that much unless you know what you are doing.\n\nWhen you need to reinstal your operating system from scratch, and you reformat your hard drive, this is where the boot disk is very important.  This is the actual physical floppy disk for your operating system.  When you clean your computer out, you need to load this into the computer so your computer will know what to load.  You would then put in your CD (or if older, other floppies) to run the new Windows environment.  \n\nYour boot records are necessary for your computer to load it's operating system.
283680
Shutting down your PC should ALWAYS be done by using the "shutdown button". Windows will unload certain components from the memory, save it's present settings and flush the virtual memory when doing so. \nAs stated in the former comment, shutting it down by the power switch (aka hardware reset/shutdown in contrast to software reset/shutdown) will result in the loss of ANY non saved information on your pc and mey provoke STRANGE results on boot-up (desktop settings lost, driver missing etc...). It should ONLY me a last step measure when the pc hangs (does not respond).
459344
You can try to go to your computers BIOS setup and check to see if your hard drive is set properly, it should be set on "Auto" and it should be set to be the boot drive....This should have been the first thing the people that tried to fix it checked...
227072
It sounds like a boot write virus... EEK! That's horrible. It could also be a few other things. System bios settings. Bad hard drive. You know I would suggest the good old restore disk. I hate to say it, but if all else fails turn to a tech.
458223
RAM cannot store information unless your computer is running.  As soon as you turn it off, all the information in RAM is gone.
577814
Look down the list and often by looking at the file name or the folder it is in you can guess what it controls.  If not, try turning it off, reboot and see what happens.  \n\nThe worst that could happen is your computer might hang up before it gets all the ay into Windows.  Then you would need to reboot in Safe Mode (press the F8 key during the initial boot up and when the menu appears select Safe Mode).  \n\nIn Safe Mode none ot the startup stuff it loaded.  Go into msconfig and turn whatever it was back on.\n\nLittle bit of trial and error and you should be able to detect what you do and don't want to run.
5443
"Booting" a computer usually means to restart the operating system.  This originally came from the term "bootstrap loader", which was the software that allowed a computer to start up when its power was turned on.\n\nThe second link below will take you to a website that explains it as the Bootstrap Paradox: "...how can you get a program into the computer without a program already inside the computer to load it? It's like lifting yourself by your own bootstraps. Bootstrap Paradox!"
348342
Well, all drives are unmounted to begin with. This is as much true in Windows machines as it is on Linux/Unix variants. The necessary code to start up the OS is held in the system BIOS on some sort of EEPROM memory (depending on architecture and motherboard).\n\nThese boot up instructions can read from the hard disk without the need to mount it to the file system if it needs to. Instead, it just loads everything required into main memory, gets the OS up and running and starts the generic log-in processes, then mounts the partitions onto the file system for user access as a part of the shell execution. This is how you can run straight-from-CD Linux distributions like Knoppix without needing to load them to disk.
33603
It's an easy way to uncheck programs you don't want to start at boot for one. :) (which makes your computer boot faster)
628642
If you have wiped your hard drive, the computer should stop booting after the BIOS, the black screen before windows. You will have to reinstall windows. All data is ofcourse gone. However, if windows starts up at all then the disk hasnt been wiped.
549783
It means that the startup built in test detected a problem. Could be memory.\n\n**********************************************************\n\nDid you get this solved??
404318
you either have one hard drive with two partitions or two hard drives..  when you boot your system it will tell you but you can (assuming you have XP) click on start -> all programs -> accesories -> system tools --> system info.\n\nHere go to components -> storage -> drives\n\nThis will break out your drive info - you are interested in Local fixed disks.  It details size, space used/unused of each fixed partition.\n\nYou can also go to the control panel -> admin tools -> computer management -> storage -> disk management .  Here it will show you the disk layout and partitions.  If disk 0 has morethan one drive letter defined to the right of it then you have those partitions on a single hard drive (disk 0 is a single physical drive which can have 1, 2, 3... partions defined as C, D, E).
225319
Start -> Programs -> Accessories -> System tools -> System Information. \n\nIt's all there.
5781
RAM or random access memory is "volatile" memory.  It does not retain data when the power to your computer is off.  Your operating system or applications will save your information to your hard disk drive before shutting down your computer.  You don't have to worry about it.  Just ground yourself before opening the chasis, and ground yourself again every few minutes. A carpet shock is death to computer components.  Replace the old board with the new one then sell the old one on ebay!
70227
Assuming (isn't stated, so I'll go for most popular) you are using win XP, insert the installation disk and then boot. Then access the recovery console (see sources for a how-to). Then run fixmbr (command line interface, so type and hit enter). This repairs the part of the disk that contains the information on where Operating systems can be found on the disk, this may help!\n\nAdditional note: maybe read the warnings first - if you have a dual or multiple boot systems (more than one OS) or a non default bootloader, this may cause problems. If you have no clue what I'm on about, then you probably don't have either.
656701
I dont quite understand your question.\nThe system drive is the drive where you have your windows XP files. In my case it is the C:/ Drive
441060
during the installation the setup program offered to make the Master Boot Record (MBR) (the very 1st records on the hard disk, telling an OS (SuSE, Windows, aso.) what partitions are available on the hard disk, there type (FAT, ext2, NTFS) and where they start and end)\neven though it is usually a bad idea to put a boot loader (that's what GRUB is...) in the MBR because removing it usually means destroying all partitions on the hard disk, as well) that's the choice Linux is doing, by default.\nif you kept this default, your GRUB menu should include a en entry like "SuSE 9.2 Graphical Environment" as well as a "SuSE 9.2 Fail safe".\nif you kept your Windows installation, you may also have a 3rd option like "Windows".\nit is unfortunately possible to choose the "boot loader options" during install in such a way that none of those or @ least none of the SuSE entries show up in the GRUB menu.\n\nyour best chance to correct this will most likely be to put the 9.2 CD/DVD into your CD/DVD drive & start the install again, choose the graphical install mode; the install program will notice your existing install and offer to use it / update it\nsome entries will be picked up the from install and you'll just have to click ok, some entries (program to install, if you didn't stick to the default) will have to be typed in again :(\nwhen you get to the boot loader section, make sure you leave everything to default\n\nif you end up with the same situation, you may want to download the latest OpenSuSE (10.1) from http://en.opensuse.org/Released_Version\nand start a completely new install (thus *NOT* using the existing install of 9.2).\n\ndon't know what PC you have (very new, very old?) so you'll have to go thru the web page & pick your choice; may also want to have a look @ the install help ( http://en.opensuse.org/Installation )