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-= The Basics of the BIOS =-
-= By Manic Velocity =-
-= manicvelocity@crapmail.com =-
-= http://www.2600slc.org =-
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Intro-
Alright, you come home from work, grab a snack and sit down at your computer. You fire the
thing up, the extensions load, the OS boots up and your set to go to do whatever. But wait.
What loaded your extensions? What started up your OS? What exactly happened the second you
pushed the power button? I hope to explain all that a bit in this article.
To Answer Those Questions-
What loaded everything? What caused your operating system to operate? The Basic
Input/Output System. Also known as BIOS. The BIOS is one of three types of software
that helps your computer run. The first being, of course, the operating system, and
second, the applications. When you boot up your computer, in order to load the operating
system, the microprocessor needs to execute itÕs first instruction. That instruction
comes from the BIOS.
The BIOS doesn't just load the OS, itÕs other functions include the Power On Self Test
or POST. The POST performs certain tasks that makes sure all hardware is in working order.
The BIOS also activates other BIOS chips on various cards installed on the computer. (SCSI
cards and graphics cards have their own BIOS chips.) And the BIOS runs routines that
interface the OS with hardware such as keyboards, monitors, serial and parallel ports, etc.
The BIOS is stored on a flash memory chip on the motherboard.
Updating Your BIOS-
If you have an older computer, (Most computers today are absolete by the time you open the
box. So this section, no doubt, applies to you.) it may help to get your BIOS updated.
The more you introduce newer components to your computer, the more your BIOS will need to
change its understanding of the entire system, in order to put everything in order. Since
the BIOS is stored in some form of ROM, changing it, may take a bit more effort, than it
takes to update most types of software.
In order to upgrade your BIOS, you may need some sort of program provided by the BIOS
manufacturer. Find out what type of BIOS you have, and go to the manufacturer's website
to see if there is an available upgrade. Download the upgrade and the utility program
needed to install it. Copy the upgrade along with the utility program onto a disk.
Restart your computer with the disk in its drive, and the program will erase the old BIOS,
and install the new one.
Major BIOS manufacturer's include: American Megatrends Inc., Microid Research, Phoenix
Technologies, Acerlabs and Winbond.
When upgrading your BIOS, be sure that you are installing one that's compatible with your
system. If you goof up, you could destroy your original BIOS without installing the new
one. Which means no more computer for a while. I suggest checking with the computer
manufacturer before you do anything youÕre not sure of.
Conclusion-
This information isn't really anything new. But I wanted to take the time to educate
myself more about how computers work, rather than just what they can do.
The websites of the above mentioned BIOS manufacturer's are as follows:
American Megatrends Inc.
www.megatrends.com
Microid Research
www.mrbios.com
Phoenix Technologies
www.phoenix.com/index.html
Acerlabs
www.acerlabs.com
Winbond
www.winbond.com.tw
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