ITPEC IP April 2024 Question 13
ITPEC IP April 2024 — Question 13 of 100
The BIOS is loaded and begins operating first after the PC is powered on. Firmware starts before the operating system, initializes and checks basic hardware, and selects a boot device. It then starts the boot process that loads the OS.
After the OS kernel begins, the operating system can initialize its services and load device drivers. Resident application software, such as an antivirus program configured to start automatically, is loaded later under the operating system. The resulting order is broadly BIOS or firmware, OS boot, device and system initialization, and startup applications.
Answer (a)
Why not others:
- (b) the OS cannot load until firmware locates and starts the boot loader
- (c) resident applications require an already running OS
- (d) device drivers are managed as part of OS startup after the initial firmware stage
Key rule: Firmware executes immediately after power-on and prepares the hardware environment from which the operating system is booted.
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