BIOS (a.k.a. System Setup)
The BIOS is a crucial part of your motherboard.
In the bios, the most important system hardware is setup and configured, so the PC knows how to start up.
That is why it is often called "System Setup"
In order to look into or change anything in the bios, you have to
press a certain key during POST ("Power-On Self-Test", before the Operating Systems starts up).
This key is different for several Motherboard companies, and can be hard to remember.
Often there is a key to go directly to the bios, and another to go to the "boot-menu" (where can choose to boot from hdd, dvd or Usb) where it is also possible to select "system setup".
Here is a list of the most common versions:
| Mobo |
system setup |
boot menu |
| MSI |
Delete |
F11 |
| ASUS |
Delete |
F8 |
| HP |
F10 |
Esc or F9 |
| DELL |
F2 |
F12 |
| Gigabyte |
Delete |
F12 |
| IBM |
F1 |
F12 |
| Asrock |
F2 |
F11 |
| DFI |
Delete |
Esc |
| Abit |
Delete |
|
|
|
|
2 different bios topologies exist; EUFI and Legacy..