ITPEC IP April 2024 Question 13

Topic: Software

If a process from when a PC is powered on to when it becomes ready to use is divided into four (4) stages, which of the following is the stage that is performed first?

Explanation

Loading a BIOS — the firmware runs first at power-on and starts everything after it.

Each stage is loaded and started by the one before it:

  1. The BIOS, firmware in ROM on the motherboard, runs at power-on, checks the hardware and finds the boot device
  2. The OS is read from that device and started
  3. The OS loads the device drivers it needs to control each device
  4. Resident application software such as antivirus software is started on top of the OS

Answer (a)

Why not others:

  • •(b) — the OS is stored on a disk, and the BIOS is what finds and starts it, so it comes second
  • •(c) — resident applications run on the OS and start only after it is up, so they come last
  • •(d) — device drivers are parts of the OS, loaded by the OS during its start-up

Key rule: A PC boots in layers, firmware (BIOS or UEFI), then the OS and its drivers, then applications; a layer can start only once the layer beneath it is running.

Software · AI-written, may contain errors

Practice this exam

This question comes from an official ITPEC past paper. ITPEC Practice is an independent study tool and is not affiliated with ITPEC. See the official IP past-paper collection or Report an issue.