[techspeak; from `by one's bootstraps'] To load and initialize the
operating system on a machine. This usage is no longer jargon (having
passed into techspeak) but has given rise to some derivatives that
are still jargon.
The derivative reboot implies that the machine hasn't been down for
long, or that the boot is a {bounce} (sense 4) intended to clear some
state of {wedgitude}. This is sometimes used of human thought
processes, as in the following exchange: "You've lost me." "OK,
reboot. Here's the theory...."
This term is also found in the variants cold boot (from power-off
condition) and warm boot (with the CPU and all devices already
powered up, as after a hardware reset or software crash).
Another variant: soft boot, reinitialization of only part of a
system, under control of other software still running: "If you're
running the {mess-dos} emulator, control-alt-insert will cause a
soft-boot of the emulator, while leaving the rest of the system
running."
Opposed to this there is hard boot, which connotes hostility towards
or frustration with the machine being booted: "I'll have to hard-boot
this losing Sun." "I recommend booting it hard." One often hard-boots
by performing a {power cycle}.
Historical note: this term derives from bootstrap loader, a short
program that was read in from cards or paper tape, or toggled in from
the front panel switches. This program was always very short (great
efforts were expended on making it short in order to minimize the
labor and chance of error involved in toggling it in), but was just
smart enough to read in a slightly more complex program (usually from
a card or paper tape reader), to which it handed control; this
program in turn was smart enough to read the application or operating
system from a magnetic tape drive or disk drive. Thus, in successive
steps, the computer `pulled itself up by its bootstraps' to a useful
operating state. Nowadays the bootstrap is usually found in ROM or
EPROM, and reads the first stage in from a fixed location on the
disk, called the `boot block'. When this program gains control, it is
powerful enough to load the actual OS and hand control over to it.
[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {Black Screen of Death}{breath-of-life packet}{cold boot}{dickless workstation}{hard boot}{power cycle}{soft boot}{warm boot}]