Loading Process

An absolute file is loaded and executed by the loader (part of the operating system) with the following conceptual steps:

1. Allocate memory for each program segment.

2. Read the memory image into main memory from the absolute file on disk.

3. Set the base register to the initial address of the segment and set the bounds register to the size of the segment.

4. Jump to the starting address of the program, using a special jump instruction that switches the processor state from system mode to user mode during the jump.