Avanti can be launched interactively from the Configuration Utility using the Run button, or from a command line.  Avanti can also be run as a Windows service, which is covered in Installing Avanti as a Service.  Launching Avanti is equivalent to powering up a real Alpha system.  

The emulator program will display an Avanti icon in the notification area of the Windows task bar.  It runs a series of checks on its virtual hardware, ensuring that all of its devices are present.  If a disk image file has been misnamed or a NIC has changed, the emulator will display an error, wait for a user acknowledgement, and exit.  If the configuration is valid, the emulator will launch a console window, load the SRM console firmware, and display the three-chevron console prompt (>>>).

Once the console prompt appears, the virtual Alpha is ready to boot a supported O/S.  The two most common O/S run on Alpha systems are Tru64 UNIX and OpenVMS.