About Bios Setup; To Run Bios Setup; About Cmos; The Post ( Power On Self Test ) - SOLTEK SL-85SID User Manual

4-1 About BIOS Setup

• BIOS setup is an interactive BIOS program that you need to run when:
1. Changing the hardware of your system. (For example: installing a
new Hard Disk etc.)
2. Modifying the behavior of your computer. (For example: changing
the system time or date, or turning special features on or off etc.)
3. Enhancing your computer's behavior. (For example: speeding up
performance by turning on shadowing or cache)

4-2 To run BIOS Setup

• First access BIOS setup menu by pressing < DEL > key after "POST" is
complete ( before OS is loaded ). BIOS will then display the following
message:
Press "DEL" to enter "SETUP"

4-3 About CMOS

• CMOS is the memory maintained by a battery. CMOS is used to
store the BIOS settings you have selected in BIOS Setup. CMOS
also maintains the internal clock. Every time you turn on your
computer, the BIOS Looks into CMOS for the settings you have
selected and configures your computer accordingly. If the battery
runs out of power, the CMOS data will be lost and POST will issue
a "CMOS invalid" or "CMOS checksum invalid" message. If this
happens, you have to replace the battery and do some proper settings in
BIOS Setup.

4-4 The POST ( Power On Self Test )

• POST is an acronym for Power On Self Test. This program will test all
things the BIOS does before the operating system is started. Each of
POST routines is assigned a POST code, a unique number which is
sent to I/O port 080h before the routine is executed.
Chapter 4 BIOS Setup
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