Question

. An accountant is booting a PC that has Windows 8 installed. The boot process is currently working on the following step: BIOS locates and reads the configuration settings that are stored in the CMOS memory. What is the next step that will happen in the boot process?

Answer 1

After the BIOS reads the configuration settings from the CMOS memory, the POST is performed to check hardware, followed by locating a bootable device to read the MBR or GPT, leading to the execution of the bootloader and loading of Windows 8.

Step-by-step explanation:

After the BIOS locates and reads the configuration settings from the CMOS memory, the next step in the boot process for a PC with Windows 8 would be that the BIOS performs a POST (Power-On Self-Test). This test checks hardware components to ensure they are working properly before proceeding. Once the POST is completed successfully, the BIOS then looks for a bootable device, which is typically the hard drive, but can also be a removable device like a USB drive or CD-ROM. It reads the Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) from the bootable device, which contains the necessary information to load the operating system's bootloader. The bootloader is then executed to start the process of loading Windows 8.