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Questions about BIOS
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Posted by: SKYHN
First off, I do not know what system BIOS do. Here are the questions I have:
What are BIOS?
What does updating them do?
How and where do you update them?
Here are my current bios(mvpcinfo told me):
Phoenix EPP revision 9.00 (15-Aug-2000)
And here is my mother board:
2.02 i850-WMT-LX
I run a pentium 4 1.3ghz with Windows Me
60gb hard drive
NVIDIA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro
SoundBlaster
256 Ram
Help would be appreciated!
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Pronounced "bye-ose," an acronym for basic input/output system. The BIOS is built-in software that determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.
The BIOS is typically placed in a ROM chip that comes with the computer (it is often called a ROM BIOS). This ensures that the BIOS will always be available and will not be damaged by disk failures. It also makes it possible for a computer to boot itself. Because RAM is faster than ROM, though, many computer manufacturers design systems so that the BIOS is copied from ROM to RAM each time the computer is booted. This is known as shadowing.
Many modern PCs have a flash BIOS, which means that the BIOS has been recorded on a flash memory chip, which can be updated if necessary.
The PC BIOS is fairly standardized, so all PCs are similar at this level (although there are different BIOS versions). Additional DOS functions are usually added through software modules. This means you can upgrade to a newer version of DOS without changing the BIOS.
PC BIOSes that can handle Plug-and-Play (PnP) devices are known as PnP BIOSes, or PnP-aware BIOSes. These BIOSes are always implemented with flash memory rather than ROM.
Posted by: Ion Silverbolt
Sounds like you have a brand name PC. Check the website of the manufacturer of your PC. They should have BIOS files and other help info located there. Check for model numbers or motherboard model numbers while you're there.
If you need more help, post back. 
Posted by: SKYHN
So far they have been alright as far as tech support. They take about a day to respond to my questions. I tried to get updates for my pc before but it was hard to do. I have an HP Pavilion xt967 and that is one of their "bundled" pc's, so they don't offer the normal updates like on their other computers. Kinda sux. I think I got ripped on this pc. Although, I got one of the best monitors out there. That part Im happy with.
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