cisco

Windows XP
vs. Vista
Difference in boot process

Eng. Mubarak Ali Bin-Sunker

5/17/2010
Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

Understanding the difference of boot

sequence in Windows XP vs. Vista

 The boot sequence in Windows Vista Operating System is

completely different from the boot of traditional Microsoft NT-
core based Operating Systems. In this article we are going to
explain the principal differences between these two boot systems.

 Boot system characteristics of NT-core based

Operating Systems (Windows 2000, XP, 2003
Server)
 The boot sector of the primary partition (established in the
formatting process) has hardcoded (date that can't be modified by
users) the name of the first file that should be loaded for booting:
NTLDR.
 There are three files in C:\ that are necessary for loading: NTLDR,
NTDETECT.COM and BOOT.INI
 The BOOT.INI is a modifiable text file that contains some
parameters which are the locations of the Operating Systems that
are installed in our computer and some other parameters.

 The boot sequence in Windows NT is done as

follow:
1. The BIOS loads the Master Boot Record (MBR) of the hard drive.
It contains the followings structures: Master Partition Table and
the Master Boot Code.
Master Partition Table: This small bit of code that is
referred to as a table that contains a complete description of the
partitions that are contained on the hard disk.
Master Boot Code: Is the small bit of computer code that
the BIOS loads and executes to start the boot process.
2. The Master Boot Record, when fully executed, transfers control to
the boot program stored on the first sector of the active partition
(Boot Sector).
3. The boot program loads the file that the Boot Sector has hardcoded
inside: in this case it loads the file NTLDR.
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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

4. NTLDR file is responsible, among other things, for reading the

BOOT.INI file and shows us a menu to select the Operating System
(in the case that we have two or more system). The picture below
shows the snapshot of the Boot.ini file which contains two
operating systems (Server2003 and Windows XP).

 So it can be easily change the time out by note program, it does not like Vista
which is need to special tool to change this parameters, as it will show later.

 At the beginning there is no different between

the two operating systems (WindowsXp and
Vista) in the boot process i.e. when you first
turn on the computer, which is called a cold
boot. The computer performs the Power On Self
Test (POST).
 After POST, the BIOS locates and reads the
configuration settings that are stored in the
CMOS. This configuration setting, called the
boot device priority. It is the order in which
devices are checked to see if an operating
system is located there. The boot device priority
is set in the BIOS and can be arranged in any
order. The BIOS boots the computer using the
first drive that contains an operating system.

 Boot system characteristics of Windows Vista

Operating Systems
 The philosophy of Windows Vista changes drastically. The
main changes are the followings:

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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

 The Boot Sector of the partition is modified. Now it contains

(hardcoded) the name of the first file that has to be loaded and
executed: in this case BOOTMGR.
 BOOTMGR is a hidden file in C:\ that is necessary to load the
system.
 There is also a hidden folder in C:\ named BOOT that contain
inside the BCD file as shown below. BCD is a binary file that
can be edited only with BCDEDIT tool (commands) (which will
be discuss later). This file has the same function that BOOT.INI
has in the system based in NT core.

 The boot sequence in Vista is done as follow:

1. The BIOS loads the MBR, which indicates the first active partition.
2. The MBR loads the Boot Sector of the active partition. The Boot
Sector may be created or modified by Vista installation.
3. The Boot Sector of the partition points to BOOTMGR file so it
could be loaded.
4. The execution of BOOTMGR performs the following actions:
a. If there is a hidden folder BOOT (created in the Vista
installation) with a valid content, then it locates the BCD file
which contains boot options of Vista.
b. If there is more than one operating system installed on our
PC, It shows us a selected menu (similar operation to

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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

BOOT.INI in the system based in NT core) in which we can

select the desired OS.

 The boot process in this case shows the following 2

lines menu:
 Legacy (pre-Longhorn) Microsoft Windows Operating
System. [If we clicked this line, the load process of the old
Windows operating systems would start. So the classic menu
(that is embedded in the BOOT.INI file) is shown].

 Microsoft Windows [This line allows us to start Windows

Vista].

Tool (commands) used to edit BCD file in Vista.

Picture 1 shows the use of BCDEDIT tool to manage the boot
parameters in Windows Vista. Note that in this case Vista and
XP are installed in the computer.

Picture 1

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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

Picture 2 shows how to manage the boot parameters in Windows Vista.

Note that, the parameters inside the red rectangles could be changed.

Picture 2

Picture 3 shows how you can change the time out.

Note that the timeout parameter has been changed to value 7.

Picture 3

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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

Picture 4 shows how you can change the description .

Note that the description parameter has been changed to Microsoft
Windows Vista 32 bits.

Picture 4

Picture 5 shows the confirmation that timeout and description parameters

have been changed.

Picture 5

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Windows XP vs. Vista 2010

Resources:
1- www.c-sharpcorner.com /Upload File/Edison _ 2109/
BootInVista08062009125621PM /BootInVist.aspx
2- WWW. Booting - Wikipedia .com
3- Cisco networking academy programs chapter 5.

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