The other day when Rick was having a problem with his cell phone (as usual), he said, "Maybe I need to re-boot it." I asked, does that mean you kick it or throw up on it?

It started me wondering where that term "boot" came from vis-a-vis computers and computerized things. I looked in my new, super-duper dictionary that has such complicated definitions it is no longer possible to figure out what anything really means -- no luck.

I hate to drag you cat sailors away from discussions of rigging and repairs, but it is a documented fact that sailors are much more computer literate and technologically "with it" than the general population, so I figured this was the best forum for getting an answer to my question about "booting."

P.S. I guess I should explain that I KNOW what it means to boot or reboot your computer. I just want to know how and why somebody came up with that particular term and how it fits into the definitions of "boot."

From http://www.takeourword.com

"When sitting at your computer, waiting for it to boot up, had you ever wondered where this strange term comes from? Those of you who remember those far-off days when computers with the power of a pocket calculator needed their own building and ran programs consisting of holes punched into paper-tape may also remember that the earlier phrase was to bootstrap. Now the meaning becomes more apparent. When the computer was switched on, a built-in program executed which "pulled [the machine] up by its own bootstraps". This phrase, in turn, comes from a passage in the fantasy novel "The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen" wherein the boastful Baron describes how he evaded the Turkish army by using this novel technique to scale the mirror-like face of a sheer cliff."

Thank you so much! That is very interesting history. I guess that when we got our first computer in the mid 1980's it was after the days of paper tape. I had never heard about that before.

Sometimes, though,I still like the idea of kicking my computer while wearing a heavy-duty hiking boot -- or maybe a steel-toed construction boot.

Just to confuse you a little more, there are different levels of "booting".
A "cold boot" means to switch the computer off for a few minutes, let the electricity stored in the chips bleed off,
and then switch it back on.
A "warm boot" means to leave the computer on and go through a "restart" or "reload" of the operating system.
Hitting the "restart" button on the computer is somewhere in between.
The point of "rebooting" is to reload and reset all of the operating software in your computer.
The operating software includes, but is not limited to the operating system(windows), motherboard BIOS(basic input/output software),
video BIOS, soundcard BIOS, controller card BIOS, modem BIOS, network card BIOS, wireless card drivers, mouse drivers,
printer drivers, video drivers, CD/DVD drivers, network drivers, modem drivers, etc.
All of this junk running around in a computer can occasionally have conflicts and cause problems.

The things running around in my computer also include ants and an occasional gecko. The only way to kill a gecko is to throw a boot at it. So you can understand my confusion about the meaning of booting a computer.

I found the following information on the internet:

Booting Up
You may know that “booting” your computer means starting it up. But did you know the word comes from “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps”? That’s an expression that means taking charge of yourself, which is what a computer seems to do when it starts up!

Bugging Out
The term “bug” has been used for problems in machinery since electricity was invented. But the first computer bug was actually a moth! In 1945, a computer being tested at Harvard University stalled when a moth got caught inside. The engineers taped the moth into their computer log with the note, “First actual case of bug being found.”

I think "booting" applies to everything that doesnt work as its supposed to.

Its quite a common term used in NZ, ie: "Give it a boot", "Boot it in the guts".

I personally think the term originated in Australia around the start of their history. Once NSW was full of dirtbag English criminals sent as punishment from mother England down to the Colony of Australia the Prison/Work gang guards would give them a "boot" when they didnt work hard enough/properly - Chances are after a good kicking they would do what they were told properly and efficiantly?.

Think about how they come up with the song "Tie me Kangaroo down sport" - Whats up with that?

Sonic,
Your explanation makes the most sense so far. Thanks.

But maybe I should call Bill Gates and ask him what he thinks. Anybody have his private number?