OWNER’S HANDBOOK 2/1
2
GETTING STARTED
You should read this chapter even if you do not read any other. It
provides important information to help you to use your
Apricot server safely and efficiently.
Turning on the PC
To turn on the computer, simply press the P
OWER
button. The
colour of the Power Mode indicator turns from [
red
] to [
green
].
Remember that the monitor has its own power button or switch; see
the monitor’s
User Guide
for details.
Power-on self-test (POST)
Whenever the computer is turned on, a power-on self-test (POST)
routine tests various hardware components, and compares the actual
configuration of the computer with that recorded in its permanent
memory. During this time, BIOS sign-on and POST messages may
be displayed. These messages are not significant unless they report
errors – see the
BIOS Setup & POST
chapter.
Booting the operating system
Provided that POST succeeds without discovering any serious errors
or configuration discrepancies, the computer attempts to find an
operating system; that is, it attempts to ‘boot’.
Apricot PCs are typically supplied with either Windows 95,
Windows NT or MS-DOS/Windows for Workgroups already in
place or ‘pre-installed’ on the hard disk, so that the operating system
is ready for you when you turn on the computer.
NOTE
If a diskette is in the diskette drive when the computer is turned on, the
computer will attempt to boot using that diskette. This will succeed only
if the diskette is a ‘system diskette’; that is, one bearing at least the
rudiments of an operating system.
