Abootsplash, also known as abootscreen, is a graphical representation of theboot process of theoperating system.
A bootsplash can be a simple visualization of the scrolling boot messages in theconsole, but it can also present graphics or some combinations of both.
Unlikesplash screens, a bootsplash is not necessarily designed for marketing purposes; it can be intended to enhance the experience of the user as eye candy, or provide the user with messages (with an added advantage of color-coding facility) to diagnose the state of the system.
All versions ofMicrosoft Windows feature a boot screen, which is loaded during the startup process. With extra, third-party utilities, it is possible to replace the default Windows boot screen with custom images, text, and/or animations.
InWindows Vista, the default boot screen is represented by a green indeterminateprogress indicator. The boot screen can be changed so that it displays a static image of anaurora with the text, "Starting Windows Vista" by enabling the "No GUI boot" option within theWindows System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe).[1] Microsoft would update the aurora image throughout the lifecycle of the operating system, starting with the firstservice pack, where it was altered to match the image displayed during the operating system'shibernation screen.[1]
InWindows 7, the boot screen will initially display the "Starting Windows" text, then a Windows flag animation will appear at the center of the screen. On unsupported systems, and sometimes when booting intorecovery environment, theWindows Vista boot screen will be used instead as the fallback.
Changes of the boot screen, although possible through third-party utilities, is extremely risky and may cause the system to be unable to boot. Also, the hidden "Aurora" boot screen was removed.
InWindows 8 and later, the boot screen will display the Windows logo along with the loading circle. OnLegacy boot, the boot screen is displayed in 1024×768 resolution, and the boot screen is squished to accommodate for the 16:9 aspect ratio. OnUEFI boot, the boot screen is displayed in highest resolution available. If theACPI BGRT table is present, the boot screen will display theOEM logo instead.[2]
