3Com e-PC c10/s10, User Manual, Page: 51 / 122

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Pre-OS desktop management agents themselves may reside either within the image, or may
be executed in place from a mapped network drive.
Pre-OS environments are supported by MBA configured for either TCP/IP (BOOTP, DHCP),
PXE, or NetWare protocol configurations. RPL configurations are not supported.
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Boot image files that create a Pre-OS connection cause the PC to:
1. Load a temporary version of DOS
2. Perform the specified maintenance tasks
3. Unload DOS
4. Resume (with the PBOOT utility rather than user intervention) loading the operating
system from the hard drive whatever form that operating system takes
Connection, in a way, is like booting from a floppy drive, removing the boot floppy, and then
rebooting from a hard drive.
From the user's point of view, the sequence is as follows:
1. The end-user powers on or restarts the client PC.
2. A Pre-OS connection is created by the boot image file on the server. No end-user
intervention or awareness is required.
3. The specified desktop maintenance applications are executed and the required actions
can be taken.
4. Control is passed from the Pre-OS image to the hard drive.
5. The PC loads the end-user's operating system from the local hard drive.
6. The end-user logs into the network as usual.
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Creating Pre-OS boot image files involves two steps very similar to creating remoteboot
images:
Copying needed files onto a DOS-formatted system diskette
Taking a snapshot of this disk with the Boot Image Editor
Refer to the Boot Image Editor online help for instructions.