Hard boot A boot which resets the entire system. The phrase has connotation of hostility towards, or frustration with, the computer being booted. For example, "I'll have to hard boot this losing Sun", or "I recommend booting it hard". Hard boots are often performed with a power cycle. Contrast soft boot. See also cold boot and reboot [Jargon File] (1995-11-27). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing..
