What happens when powering up a newly constructed system without any software installed?

1. blue screen

2. Microsoft Windows splash screen

3. Nothing

4. a power on self-test appears

It will actually show a message

Explanation:

The message says something like no boot able device insert disk and press any key.

3. Nothing

Explanation:

Nothing happens in actuality. The BIOS comes with built in code that is good enough to start the computer, and it checks if there is any operating system already installed on the hard disk, and it can even detect the hard disk. If it finds nothing, then you will get a message that no OS has been found.

And as you add an installation disk to your PC for OS installation, then the BIOS executes the installation process and you will be using the keyboard and the mouse for getting the installation done. And once this is done, you will have the windows or Linux installed on your computer. You can also get installed FreeBSD or the Solaris. You can consider it as an expensive stone placed over a table without the OS.