In
computing,
booting (or
booting up) is the initialization of a
computerized system. The system can be a
computer or a
computer appliance. The booting process can be "hard", after electrical power to the CPU is switched from off to on (in order to diagnose particular hardware errors), or "
soft", when those
power-on self-tests (POST) can be avoided. Soft booting can be initiated by hardware such as a button press, or by software command. Booting is complete when the normal, operative,
runtime environment is attained.