An electronic processing boot up system and method are presented. The electronic processing boot up system and method can utilize ROM emulation to store bootstrap instructions and to facilitate reduction of relatively expensive ROM. For example, a ROM emulation system and method utilizes minimal or no ROM. An electronic processing boot up system can include a bus, a processor, and a ROM emulation system for making bootstrap information available to the processor. The processor can issue an initial memory fetch request and the ROM emulation system can perform a ROM emulation process in response to the memory fetch request. The ROM emulation process can include receiving a fetch request for information, translating the fetch request into memory compatible commands for retrieving the information, holding off the processor while the information is retrieved, and forwarding the information in a format compatible with a reply to the memory fetch.