BIOS - What is it? How does it work? No clue on this..

[trance-n-e]

Ok when you build a computer from scratch, do you need to set up the BIOS manually? Or does it recognise the hardware by itself? If you set it up manually, how do you do it? Cause im afraid I wont be able to do it and mess it up. (I already did once. OCed my P3 800 Mhz to over 1.5 gig....worked great for those 4 or 5 minutes.)

And what is BIOS anyways? How do you access it? The only thing I know which is like BIOS (prolly is) is when the computer boots you press delete and it takes you to this grey/blue screen where you can choose the processor speed, etc.

 

[Trivium Nate]

The bios
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_BIOS

 

[snow...]

OH ####!!!!!!!! Thats bios?! After I re-boot my computer an while it's doing that, what button do I push to get in there?

 

[Half Evil]

F8


Edit-
No, thats safe mode, I think its F12, lol

 

[snow...]

OK, thanks, an to do that my computer has to be booting up, right?

 

[The Amish Kid]

OK, thanks, an to do that my computer has to be booting up, right?

Usually its the Delete key. When first building a new computer the only things you should really have to set up is the boot order. Other then that you basically dont have to mess with the BIOS at all when you first build.

 

[prosser13]

With most motherboards it's the delete key, but some manufacturers change it to F12.

The BIOS is known as the Basic Input Output System - it looks at all your parts to check their working, then tells the hard drive to load up the Master Boot Record so that the OS can be loaded up. It's all automatic, but you can change some options like which component to load up first, such as CD-ROM drives or USB flash drives rather than the hard drive.

 

[XEN]

Mines F8...

 

[prosser13]

What does that give you?

 

[Atomic Rooster]

The The Definitive BIOS Optimization Guide.