On system reset, the BIOS is given control by the CPU. After performing tests and system initialisation, the BIOS starts the system boot operation; this all takes place in real mode, generally using 16 bit code, although some 32 bit instructions may be used. The actual sequence of operation depends on the BIOS options selected, but in most cases the BIOS will attempt to boot from the first diskette drive; if this fails, it will attempt to boot from the first hard drive. In both cases, the basic operation is the same, although the following is primarily about booting from a hard drive.

The boot operation consists of reading the first sector (cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1) from the boot device, and placing it into memory starting at address 0000:7C00H (segment 0, offset 7C00). Control is then transferred to address 0000:7C00H, i.e. with CS (the code segment register) set to 0000H, and IP (the instruction pointer) set to 7C00H. Note that this is functionally different to having CS set to 07C0H, and IP set to 0000H!

• Move itself in memory, to vacate the area it occupies in order to make way for the boot sector for the partition being booted. Conventionally, it is moved to 0000:7E00H.
• Check for Boot Manager partition on first and second drive (if installed)
• Validate the partition table (checking for exactly one active partition, and for format errors).
• Read the boot sector (first sector) from the active partition, into memory at 0000:7C00H; this mimics the effect if the disk were not partitioned at all (as would be the case for a diskette).
• Transfer control to 0000:7C00H.