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Bootstrapping is a small/minimal program loaded first in the memory when the computer is booted. This program has the capacity to start other sucessive programs which are large like your boot loader in your MBR.

Why the name Bootstrapping ? I would like to quote these lines from Wikipedia for further clarity.

"Bootstrapping alludes to a German legend, who was able to lift himself out of a swamp by pulling himself up by his own hair. In later versions he was using his own boot straps to pull himself out of the sea which gave rise to the term bootstrapping.

In computers, this term refers to any process where a simple system activates a more complicated system. It is the problem of starting a certain system without the system already functioning. It seems just as impossible as "pulling oneself up by the bootstraps". However, solutions, accordingly called bootstrapping, exist; they are processes whereby a complex system emerges by starting simply and, bit by bit, developing more complex capabilities on top of the simpler ones.

Bootstrapping is generally a longer term for booting, or the process of starting up any computer. Bootstrap most commonly refers to the program that actually begins the initialization of the computer's operating system, like GRUB, LILO or NTLDR. Modern personal computers have the ability of using their network interface card (NIC) for bootstrapping".