Loading the Protected-Mode Operating System at Startup

In the previous phase, these elements of the operating system were loaded:

• WIN.COM, which controls the initial checks and loading of the core Windows 95 components
• VMM32.VXD, which creates virtual machines and initiates VxD loading
• SYSTEM.INI, which is read for entries that differ from Registry entries

After all static VxDs are loaded, VMM32.VXD switches the processor to operate in protected mode, and the last phase of the boot process begins. This phase involves loading the protected-mode components of the operating system.

Loading Protected-Mode VxDs at Startup

The protected-mode Configuration Manager is initialized for importing configuration information from a Plug and Play BIOS (if available); otherwise, it develops the Plug and Play hardware tree by enumerating devices and loading dynamically loadable device drivers. These device drivers are identified by loading drivers from a specific directory.

The next phase resolves device resource conflicts for every device in the tree and then informs the devices of their configuration. When all devices have been enumerated, all conflicts have been resolved, and all devices have been initialized, Windows 95 is ready to be used.

Loading the Final System Components at Startup

The remaining Windows 95 system components are loaded in the following sequence:

• KERNEL32.DLL provides the main Windows components, and KRNL386.EXE loads the Windows device drivers
• GDI.EXE and GDI32.EXE provide the graphic device interface code
• USER.EXE and USER32.EXE provide the user interface code
• Associated resources, such as fonts, are loaded
• WIN.INI values are checked
• The shell and desktop components are loaded

At this point, a prompt appears so that you can log on by typing a user name and a password. After you log on, Windows 95 can process user-specific configuration information. If you do not log on, default settings are used. If Windows 95 is configured for network logon, the unified Windows 95 logon can be used to log on to the network during this process.

After Windows 95 is loaded and you log on, the STARTUP directory is processed.