What is a BIOS? BIOS, pronounced "bye-ose," is an acronym that standsfor Basic Input Output System. The BIOS is built-in software that determineswhat a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. On PCs, theBIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen,disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.Furthermore, The BIOS is responsible for booting your PC by providing abasic set of instructions. The BIOS performs all the necessary tasks that needto be initiated at start-up time: POST(Power-On Self Test, booting anoperating system from FDD or HDD). In essence, it is necessary to upgradethe BIOS on your PC in order to maintain or inevitably obtain compatibilitywith the PC industries latest hardware, software and operating systems.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Lewis Keller, Mushkin. Introduction. 1. What Is The Bios. How Does The BIOS Work?. The Motherboard BIOS. The BIOS Chip. What Does It Do?. Why Optimize the BIOS?. How Do I Optimize the BIOS?. BIOS Updates. How Do I Update the BIOS?. Determining the BIOS Version. Obtaining the BIOS Update. Preparing a BIOS Flash Disk. Flashing the Motherboard BIOS. Accessing the BIOS Setup Utility. The BIOS Setup Utility. Optimizing the BIOS. 2. Special Topics. BIOS Emergencies. Unbootable System. Power Off-Power On. Keyboard Reset. CMOS Discharge Jumper. CMOS Battery Removal. Corrupted BIOS. Hot Flashing. What Do I Need To Hot Flash a BIOS Chip?. Step 1: Create a DOS Boot Disk. Step 2: Prepare a Hot-Flash Capable Computer. Step 3: Booting Up with the Boot Disk. Step 4: Swap the BIOS Chips. Step 5: Flash the Corrupted BIOS Chip. Step 6: Swap the BIOS Chips Again. What If You Don't Have a Similar Motherboard?. Flashing With a Different Motherboard. The Universal BIOS Flash Utility. Summary. 3. Quick Reviews. Introduction. #. 8-bit I/O Recovery Time. 16-bit I/O Recovery Time. 32-bit Disk Access. 32-bit Transfer Mode. A. Act Bank A to B CMD Delay. AGP 2X Mode. AGP 4X Drive Strength. AGP 4X Mode. AGP 8X Mode. AGP Always Compensate. AGP Aperture Size. AGP Capability. AGP Clock / CPU FSB Clock. AGP Drive Strength. AGP Drive Strength N Ctrl. AGP Drive Strength P Ctrl. AGP Driving Control. AGP Driving Value . AGP Fast Write. AGP ISA Aliasing. AGP Master 1WS Read. AGP Master 1WS Write. AGP Prefetch. AGP Secondary Lat Timer. AGP Spread Spectrum. AGP to DRAM Prefetch. AGPCLK / CPUCLK. Anti-Virus Protection. APIC Function. Assign IRQ For USB. Assign IRQ For VGA. AT Bus Clock. ATA100RAID IDE Controller. Athlon 4 SSED Instruction. Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk. Auto Turn Off PCI Clock Pin. B. Boot Other Device. Boot Sequence. Boot Sequence EXT Means. Boot To OS/2. Boot Up Floppy Seek. Boot Up NumLock Status. Byte Merge. C. Clock Throttle. Compatible FPU OPCODE. CPU/DRAM CLK Synch CTL. CPU Drive Strength. CPU Fast String. CPU Hyper-Threading. CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking. CPU Latency Timer. CPU Level 1 Cache. CPU Level 2 Cache. CPU Level 3 Cache. CPU Thermal-Throttling. CPU to PCI Post Write. CPU to PCI Write Buffer. CPU VCore Voltage. D. DBI Output for AGP Trans. Delay DRAM Read Latch. Delay IDE Initial. Delay Prior To Thermal. Delayed Transaction. Differential Current. Disable Unused PCI Clock. DOS Flat Mode. DRAM Act to PreChrg CMD. DRAM Burst Length 8QW. DRAM Data Integrity Mode. DRAM Idle Timer. DRAM Interleave Time. DRAM Page-Mode. DRAM PreChrg to Act CMD. DRAM Ratio (CPU:DRAM). DRAM Ratio H/W Strap. DRAM Read Latch Delay. DRAM Refresh Rate. Duplex Select. E. ECP Mode Use DMA. EPP Mode Select. F. Fast R-W Turn Around. Fast Write to Read Turnaround. First Boot Device. Flash BIOS Protection. Floppy 3 Mode Support. Floppy Disk Access Control. Force 4-Way Interleave. Force Update ESCD. FPU OPCODE Compatible Mode. Frame Buffer Size. FSB Spread Spectrum. Full Screen Logo. G. Gate A20 Option. Graphic Win Size. Graphic Window WR Combin. Graphics Aperture Size. H. Hardware Reset Protect. HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability. Host Bus In-Order Queue Depth. Hyper-Threading Technology. I. IDE Bus Master Support. IDE HDD Block Mode. Init Display First. In-Order Queue Depth. Interrupt Mode. IOQD. ISA 14.318MHz Clock. ISA Enable Bit. K. K7 CLK_CTL Select. KBC Input Clock Select. Keyboard Auto-Repeat Delay. Keyboard Auto-Repeat Rate. L. L3 Cache. LD-Off Dram RD/WR Cycles. Level 2 Cache Latency. M. Master Drive PIO Mode. Master Drive UltraDMA. Master Priority Rotation. MD Driving Strength. Memory Hole At 15M-16M. MP Capable Bit Identify. MPS Control Version For OS. MPS Revision. Multi-Sector Transfers. N. N/B Strap CPU As. No Mask of SBA FE. O. Onboard FDC Swap A & B. Onboard FDD Controller. Onboard IDE-1 Controller. Onboard IDE-2 Controller. Onboard IR Function. Onboard Parallel Port. Onboard Serial Port 1. Onboard Serial Port 2. Onboard USB Controller. OnChip VGA Mode Select. OS/2 Onboard Memory > 64M. OS Select For DRAM > 64MB. P. P2C/C2P Concurrency. Parallel Port Mode. Passive Release. PCI#2 Access #1 Retry. PCI 2.1 Compliance. PCI Chaining. PCI Clock / CPU FSB Clock. PCI Delay Transaction. PCI Dynamic Bursting. PCI IDE Busmaster. PCI IRQ Activated By. PCI Latency Timer. PCI Master 0 WS Read. PCI Master 0 WS Write. PCI Master Read Caching. PCI Pipelining. PCI Prefetch. PCI Target Latency. PCI to DRAM Prefetch. PCI/VGA Palette Snoop. PIO Mode. PIRQ x Use IRQ No. PNP OS Installed. Post Write Combine. Power On Function. Primary Graphics Adapter. Primary VGA BIOS. Processor Number Feature. PS/2 Mouse Function Control. Q. Quick Boot. Quick Power On Self Test. R. Rank Interleave. Read-Around-Write. Read Wait State. Refresh Interval. Refresh Mode Select. Report No FDD For Win95. Reset Configuration Data. Resource Controlled By. RxD, TxD Active. S. S2K Bus Driving Strength. S2K Strobe N Control. S2K Strobe P Control. SDRAM 1T Command. SDRAM 1T Command Control. SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay. SDRAM Bank Interleave. SDRAM Bank-to-Bank Delay. SDRAM Burst Len. SDRAM Burst Length. SDRAM CAS Latency Time. SDRAM Command Leadoff Time. SDRAM Command Rate. SDRAM Cycle Length. SDRAM Cycle Time Tras/Trc. SDRAM ECC Setting. SDRAM Idle Limit. SDRAM Leadoff Command. SDRAM Page Closing Policy. SDRAM Page Hit Limit. SDRAM PH Limit. SDRAM Precharge Control. SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay. SDRAM RAS Precharge Time. SDRAM RAS Pulse Width. SDRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay. SDRAM Row Active Time. SDRAM Row Cycle Time. SDRAM Tras Timing Value. SDRAM Trc Timing Value. SDRAM Trcd Timing Value. SDRAM Trp Timing Value. SDRAM Bank-to-Bank Delay. SDRAM Trrd Timing Value. SDRAM Write Recovery Time. SDRAM Write to Read Command Delay. Second Boot Device. Security Setup. Shadowing Address Ranges Share Memory Size. Slave Drive PIO Mode. Slave Drive UltraDMA. Speed Error Hold. Split Lock Operations. Spread Spectrum. Super Bypass Mode. Super Bypass Wait State. SuperStability Mode. Swap Floppy Drive. Synchronous Mode Select. System BIOS Cacheable. T. Third Boot Device. TX, RX Inverting Enable. Typematic Rate. Typematic Rate Delay. Typematic Rate Setting. U. Ultra DMA Mode. UltraDMA-100 IDE Controller. UltraDMA-133 IDE Controller. UltraDMA-66 IDE Controller. USB Controller. USB Keyboard Support. USB Mouse Support. USWC Write Posting. V. Video BIOS Cacheable. Video BIOS Shadowing. Video Memory Cache Mode. Video RAM Cacheable. Virus Warning. VLink 8X Support. W. Watchdog Timer. Write Data In to Read Delay. Write Recovery Time. 4. Detailed Descriptions. Introduction. #. 8-bit I/O Recovery Time. 16-bit I/O Recovery Time. 32-bit Disk Access. 32-bit Transfer Mode. A. Act Bank A to B CMD Delay. AGP 2X Mode. AGP 4X Drive Strength. AGP 4X Mode. AGP 8X Mode. AGP Always Compensate. AGP Aperture Size. AGP Capability. AGP Clock / CPU FSB Clock. AGP Drive Strength. AGP Drive Strength N Ctrl. AGP Drive Strength P Ctrl. AGP Driving Control. AGP Driving Value. AGP Fast Write. AGP ISA Aliasing. AGP Master 1WS Read. AGP Master 1WS Write. AGP Prefetch. AGP Secondary Lat Timer. AGP Spread Spectrum. AGP to DRAM Prefetch. AGPCLK / CPUCLK. Anti-Virus Protection. APIC Function. Assign IRQ For USB. Assign IRQ For VGA. AT Bus Clock. ATA100RAID IDE Controller. Athlon 4 SSED Instruction. Auto Detect DIMM/PCI Clk. Auto Turn Off PCI Clock Pin. B. Boot Other Device. Boot Sequence. Boot Sequence EXT Means. Boot To OS/2. Boot Up Floppy Seek. Boot Up NumLock Status. Byte Merge. C. Clock Throttle. Compatible FPU OPCODE. CPU Drive Strength. CPU Fast String. CPU Hyper-Threading. CPU L2 Cache ECC Checking. CPU Level 1 Cache. CPU Level 2 Cache. CPU Level 3 Cache. CPU Thermal-Throttling. CPU to PCI Post Write. CPU to PCI Write Buffer. CPU VCore Voltage. D. DBI Output for AGP Trans. Delay DRAM Read Latch. Delay IDE Initial. Delay Prior To Thermal. Delayed Transaction. Disable Unused PCI Clock. DRAM Act to PreChrg CMD. DRAM Burst Length 8QW. DRAM Data Integrity Mode. DRAM Idle Timer. DRAM Interleave Time. DRAM PreChrg to Act CMD. DRAM Ratio (CPU:DRAM). DRAM Ratio H/W Strap. DRAM Read Latch Delay. DRAM Refresh Rate. Duplex Select. E. ECP Mode Use DMA. EPP Mode Select. F. Fast R-W Turn Around. Fast Write to Read Turnaround. First Boot Device. Flash BIOS Protection. Floppy 3 Mode Support. Floppy Disk Access Control. Force 4-Way Interleave. Force Update ESCD. FPU OPCODE Compatible Mode. FSB Spread Spectrum. Full Screen Logo. G. Gate A20 Option. Graphic Win Size. Graphic Window WR Combin. Graphics Aperture Size. H. Hardware Reset Protect. HDD S.M.A.R.T. Capability. Host Bus In-Order Queue Depth. Hyper-Threading Technology. I. IDE Bus Master Support. IDE HDD Block Mode. Init Display First. In-Order Queue Depth. Interrupt Mode. IOQD. ISA 14.318MHz Clock. ISA Enable Bit. K. K7 CLK_CTL Select. KBC Input Clock Select. Keyboard Auto-Repeat Delay. Keyboard Auto-Repeat Rate. L. L3 Cache. Level 2 Cache Latency. M. Master Drive PIO Mode. Master Drive UltraDMA. Master Priority Rotation. MD Driving Strength. Memory Hole At 15M-16M. MP Capable Bit Identify. MPS Control Version For OS. MPS Revision. Multi-Sector Transfers. N. N/B Strap CPU As. No Mask of SBA FE. O. Onboard FDC Swap A & B. Onboard FDD Controller. Onboard IDE-1 Controller. Onboard IDE-2 Controller. Onboard IR Function. Onboard Parallel Port. Onboard Serial Port 1. Onboard Serial Port 2. Onboard USB Controller. OS/2 Onboard Memory > 64M. OS Select For DRAM > 64MB. P. P2C/C2P Concurrency. Parallel Port Mode. Passive Release. PCI#2 Access #1 Retry. PCI 2.1 Compliance. PCI Chaining. PCI Clock / CPU FSB Clock. PCI Delay Transaction. PCI Dynamic Bursting. PCI IDE Busmaster. PCI IRQ Activated By. PCI Latency Timer. PCI Master 0 WS Read. PCI Master 0 WS Write. PCI Master Read Caching. PCI Pipelining. PCI Prefetch. PCI Target Latency. PCI to DRAM Prefetch. PCI/VGA Palette Snoop. PIO Mode. PIRQ x Use IRQ No. PNP OS Installed. Post Write Combine. Power On Function. Primary Graphics Adapter. Primary VGA BIOS. Processor Number Feature. PS/2 Mouse Function Control. Q. Quick Boot. Quick Power On Self Test. R. Rank Interleave. Read-Around-Write. Read Wait State. Refresh Interval. Refresh Mode Select. Report No FDD For Win95. Reset Configuration Data. Resource Controlled By. RxD, TxD Active. S. S2K Bus Driving Strength. S2K Strobe N Control. S2K Strobe P Control. SDRAM 1T Command. SDRAM 1T Command Control. SDRAM Active to Precharge Delay. SDRAM Bank Interleave. SDRAM Bank-to-Bank Delay. SDRAM Burst Len. SDRAM Burst Length. SDRAM CAS Latency Time. SDRAM Command Leadoff Time. SDRAM Command Rate. SDRAM Cycle Length. SDRAM Cycle Time Tras/Trc. SDRAM ECC Setting. SDRAM Idle Limit. SDRAM Leadoff Command. SDRAM Page Closing Policy. SDRAM Page Hit Limit. SDRAM PH Limit. SDRAM Precharge Control. SDRAM RAS Precharge Delay. SDRAM RAS Precharge Time. SDRAM RAS Pulse Width. SDRAM RAS-to-CAS Delay. SDRAM Row Active Time. SDRAM Row Cycle Time. SDRAM Tras Timing Value. SDRAM Trc Timing Value. SDRAM Trcd Timing Value. SDRAM Trp Timing Value. SDRAM Trrd Timing Value. SDRAM Write Recovery Time. SDRAM Write to Read Command Delay. Second Boot Device. Security Setup. Shadowing Address Ranges. Share Memory Size. Slave Drive PIO Mode. Slave Drive UltraDMA. Speed Error Hold. Split Lock Operations. Spread Spectrum. Super Bypass Mode. Super Bypass Wait State. SuperStability Mode. Swap Floppy Drive. Synchronous Mode Select. System BIOS Cacheable. T. Third Boot Device. TX, RX Inverting Enable. Typematic Rate. Typematic Rate Delay. Typematic Rate Setting. U. Ultra DMA Mode. UltraDMA-100 IDE Controller. UltraDMA-133 IDE Controller. UltraDMA-66 IDE Controller. USB Controller. USB Keyboard Support. USB Mouse Support. USWC Write Posting. V. Video BIOS Cacheable. Video BIOS Shadowing. Video Memory Cache Mode. Video RAM Cacheable. Virus Warning. VLink 8X Support. W. Watchdog Timer. Write Data In to Read Delay. Write Recovery Time. Acronym List. Index. About the Author. About Adrian's Rojak Pot. About the BIOS Optimization Guide.

About the Author

About the Author Adrian Wong has been part of the online hardware community since 1996 when he first set up Adrian's Rojak Pot. Since then, the author has written many authoritative articles and guides on computers. Here's a short list of some of his previous works: The Motherboard BIOS Flashing Guide The Video BIOS Flashing Guide The Hot Flashing Guide Hard Disk Myths Debunked! The Definitive Swapfile Optimization Guide The Definitive Battery Extender Guide The Compression Comparison Guide The Definitive Maxtor Silent Store Guide The Windows 2000 Hints & Tips Guide The Definitive Disk Cache Optimization Guide The Definitive Chunksize Optimization Guide The Definitive IDE Block Mode Guide The Definitive Video RAM Caching Guide Adrian's articles and guides are considered reference material by the computer hardware community. In fact, the author regularly receives accolades from both peers and members of the industry. Adrian currently divides his time between medical school and Adrian's Rojak Pot in Melaka, Malaysia. A(c) Copyright Pearson Education. All rights reserved.