Operating Systems
CC-311 / CC-217
Department of Information Technology, Faculty of Computing and IT, University of the Punjab, Gujranwala Campus
Agenda for Today
• Components of a Computer System
• Computer Boot Process
What are the main components of a
computer system?
Components of a Computer System
Computer system can be divided into four components:
Hardware – Provides basic computing resources
CPU, memory, I/O devices
Operating system – Controls and coordinates use of hardware
among various applications and users
Components of a Computer System
Application programs – Define the ways in which the system
resources are used to solve the computing problems of the
users. All of these programs provide an application to the end
users, so they are known as application programs.
Word processors, compilers, web browsers, database
systems, video games
Users – People, machines, and other computers
Components of a Computer System
Components of a Computer System
User’s View
What do people want from an operating system?
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1
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What Operating Systems Do
Depends on the point of view…
Users want convenience, ease of use and good
performance
Don’t care about resource utilization
But shared computer such as mainframe or
minicomputer. It must keep all users happy
What Operating Systems Do
Depends on the point of view…
Users of dedicated systems such as workstations have
dedicated resources but frequently use shared resources
from servers.
Handheld computers are resource poor, optimized for
usability and battery life.
Some computers have little or no user interface, such as
embedded computers in devices and automobiles.
Computer Boot Process
Booting is the process of loading an operating system.
It’s the process that starts when we turn on the computer
(using the power button or by a software command) and
ends when the operating system is loaded into the memory.
What are the components and systems
that work together to initiate the startup
process of a computer system?
What is the sequence of events that
occur during the startup process of a
computer system?
Computer Boot Process
Running BIOS
When we turn on the computer, there is no program
inside the computer’s main memory (RAM), so the CPU
looks for another program, called the BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System), and runs it. The BIOS is a firmware
that is located on the motherboard and is run by the CPU
to start the booting sequence.
Computer Boot Process
Running POST
After the BIOS starts running, it starts a process called
POST (Power-On Self-Test) which tests all the hardware
devices and makes sure there are no issues. Moreover, if
POST finds some issues in the hardware, the booting
process stops and the computer fails to boot.
Computer Boot Process
Loading MBR to RAM
After running POST, the BIOS proceeds to load the MBR
(Master Boot Record) from the bootable device into RAM.
The MBR consists of 512 bytes located at the very
beginning sector of the bootable device (which can be an
HDD, an SSD, or a flash drive).
Computer Boot Process
Running the Bootloader
After loading the MBR into RAM, the BIOS runs the first
instruction loaded from the MBR. The first instruction is
typically the bootstrap code, aka the bootloader, which is
a program written in machine code that loads the
operating system into RAM.
Each operating system has its own bootloaders. For
example, GNU GRUB, LILO (Linux Loader), and rEFInd
are a few popular Linux bootloaders.
Computer Boot Process
Running the Operating System
Once the OS is loaded into the memory, the OS starts
running. Further, the OS starts its own initialization (which
includes loading device drivers, setting up libraries, etc.).
Finally, when the OS initialization is finished, the OS
starts a shell that displays a login prompt to the user.
