How Bootable Disks Work
Let understand how the bootable disks work –
1. Power On: You turn on your computer.
2. BIOS/UEFI Kicks In: Right after you power on, the computer’s BIOS (basic input/output system) or UEFI (unified extensible firmware interface) takes over. Think of this as the brain’s first check-in after waking up. It checks all the hardware to make sure things are okay and then looks for instructions on what to do next.
3. The BIOS/UEFI checks connected devices (like USBs, hard drives, DVDs) to find one that has boot-up instructions. This is set up in a specific order of where to look first, which you can change (like choosing to boot from USB first instead of the hard drive).
4. Reading the Boot Sector: Once it finds a device with boot instructions, it reads the boot sector, a special area on the disk that has a small program telling the computer how to load the rest of the operating system.
5. Loading the Operating System: After the boot sector does its job, the operating system begins to load into the computer’s memory from the disk. This sets everything in motion, allowing you to use the computer as you normally would.
So, a bootable disk basically has everything the computer needs to start up and get to the point where you can use it, packed into a portable form like a USB stick or DVD.
What is a Bootable Disk? Working, Types and Troubleshooting
When you turn on a computer, it doesn’t know what to do right away. It needs to load an operating system (like Windows or macOS) to get things going. This is where a bootable disk comes in. In this article, we will see the working, types and uses of a bootable disk –