PC Hardware Annoyances

BIOS/CMOS ANNOYANCES

GETTING THE TERMINOLOGY RIGHT

The Annoyance:

I wish you PC geeks would stop confusing us with so many terms. One book tells me to go to the Setup menu, another tells me to check the BIOS or the CMOS. What magic keys get me into those menus?

The Fix:

The computer industry often uses these related terms interchangeably. To set the record straight, the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) is a motherboard chip that stores the instructions needed to boot your PC and transfer control to the operating system. This is often called firmware because the BIOS instructions are recorded on the chip itself.

However, BIOS instructions must adjust for various hardware configurations (such as memory speed and I/O port availability). Part of the BIOS includes a Setup (or System Setup) routine that lets you define the hardware particulars (you can see a few example Setup menus in Figures 1-6 and 1-8). A small amount of very low-power CMOS(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) RAM stores each variable. In fact, a little coin cell powers the CMOS RAM when you turn off the PC.

Once you know the trick, you can easily get into the Setup routine. Most BIOS will show you the proper key to press on the screen in the moments following startup. For example, you will see a message like “Press <F2> to enter Setup” (see Table 1-1). You only have a few seconds to start the Setup routine. If you wait too long, the operating system will load.

Table 1-1. Common keys to access popular Setup routines