Set of PC architectural specifications. Specifications were developed by a group of HW and SW development companies in early 90s. The user is prompted for information during initial setup. The information is stored in the Windows 9x system. Devices - Devices identify themselves and specify their capabilities and resource requirements.
Information is used by the operating system to determine the best configuration of devices.
PnP Operating System - Makes decisions based on information from devices. All PCI cards are PnP compliant. Using the Startup Menu Startup Menu Hidden menu available before the GUI appears with a number of Windows 98 start options. Menu items used to troubleshoot Windows 98 start problems. The timing can be hard to figure out on some machines.