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What is a boot?

13 years ago

Someone in my clique said she had taken her puter to a geek, and wanted cleanup, he claimed all it needed was a reboot, and he reinstalled programs, etc.

Am I not understanding something here, I thought booting up was starting the computer either as a restart after cleanup, or to start perhaps first thing for the day.

Am I goofy or what?

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Comments (8)

owbist
13 years ago
In computerese to boot is to start.

Often shutting down completely then restarting (booting) the computer can work wonders.

I think things have improved now but back in the day some programs were notorious for not releasing memory to the memory pool once the program was closed, even a reboot worked in this case.
DA_Mccoy
13 years ago
I was looking for something else and I for the first time saw this.

There always have been two types of "boots"; a common reboot , and a boot also known as a cold start. A reboot when selected from the Start menu is a near system shutdown. Just not quite. A boot or cold start is a complete shutdown and startup. It use to be a boot required a ten second waiting period before restarting.

You rarely see the requirement for a boot anymore. Most everything now just needs a reboot.

It may be just like today's use of the terms upgrade and update. Manufacturer's and forums were insistent on keeping the terms separate as they do have different focuses and meanings.. However, today they are all-to-often interchangeable.

DA

This post was edited by damccoy on Sun, Dec 2, 12 at 10:00
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genes
13 years ago
Here you go..pick the one you want...lol
boot 1 (bt)
n.
1. Protective footgear, as of leather or rubber, covering the foot and part or all of the leg.
2. A protective covering, especially a sheath to enclose the base of a floor-mounted gear shift lever in a car or truck.
3. Chiefly British An automobile trunk.
4.
a. A kick.
b. Slang An unceremonious dismissal, as from a job. Used with the.
c. Slang A swift, pleasurable feeling; a thrill.
5. A Denver boot.
6. A marine or navy recruit in basic training.
7. Computer Science The process of starting or restarting a computer.
8. boots An instrument of torture, used to crush the foot and leg.
tr.v. bootÃ¯Â¿Â½ed, bootÃ¯Â¿Â½ing, boots
1. To put boots on.
2. To kick.
3. Slang To discharge unceremoniously. See Synonyms at dismiss.
4. Computer Science To start (a computer) by loading an operating system from a disk.
5. To disable (a vehicle) by attaching a Denver boot.
6. Baseball To misplay (a ground ball).
mikie_gw
13 years ago
quick kick in the rear = boot
DA_Mccoy
13 years ago
Gene,

Some days you just have too much time on your hands. :-)

DA
genes
13 years ago
Ain't that the truth...lol
susanjn
13 years ago
shaddy,

As in pulling oneself up by the bootstraps. When the computer starts up it goes from nothing to your portal to the world.

Back in the day we called it bootstrapping. Now it is just booting.
jane__ny
13 years ago
Brings back memories of Windows 95.

Jane

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