💾 How to enter BIOS: why is it needed

What is BIOS and why you need to go into it

BIOS stands for basic input-output system, which in turn can be translated as basic input-output system. In Russian terminology, the system began to be called BIOS. From the point of view of architecture, BIOS is a program stored in a separate form of computer memory - ROM. In practice, the BIOS chip can be found on the motherboard. The system is an important part of the boot procedure for the operating system. The fact is that it is the BIOS that, when the computer is turned on, interrogates the equipment for operability, collects information about it and reads the settings recorded in memory. Only then is control transferred to the operating system loader. In addition to all of the above, BIOS allows you to change your settings, which, depending on the manufacturer, can be many. This includes power management, and overclocking, and the choice of boot options, and so on. But the most common reason why users log into the system is to change the media when installing the operating system. For example, the installation is done from a flash card, and you need the computer to first read the information from there. Forcibly it can be done in BIOS.

How to enter BIOS on different computers

Manufacturers of personal stationary computers and laptops usually use third-party BIOS developments. The exceptions are Intel, Asus, Acer, which sometimes customize the BIOS to suit their style. One way or another, the development of BIOS is not done by PC manufacturers themselves, but by third-party companies, of which there are only three in the world: AMI, Award and Phoenix. All of their products differ in functionality, login method, and appearance.

AMI

American Megatrends Incorporated is one of the oldest developers of BIOS for computers. The company was founded in 1985. As such, AMI does not sell BIOS chips inside, it implements the source code or configures the system for a specific PC or motherboard developer.

To enter BIOS from AMI, you need to press a certain key or their combination at the start of the system, when the POST equipment is checked, which is quite rare. In fact, which key is used to enter depends on the manufacturer of the motherboard or PC in general. Most often it is F2 or Del. Less common are F1 or F9, as well as Ctrl + Alt + Del or Ctrl + Alt + Esc. This applies to any BIOS version. In general, it is not worth remembering this, since, including any stationary computer or laptop, during the POST test it will be possible to read the information on how to enter the BIOS. For example, like this: "Press DEL to enter setup".

Phoenix Technologies

Despite the fact that the company was founded in 1979, it began developing the BIOS much later, initially dealing with the release of clones of the DOS system. Then the developers switched to the manufacture of BIOS for various solutions based on the IBM PC, variants of which were produced in large quantities at that time.

In 1998 Phoenix acquires Award, another popular BIOS manufacturer. Now you can find systems in three different formats: Award, Phoenix and Phoenix Award BIOS. The Award brand is positioned as a solution for budget systems, although, by and large, there are not many differences between Phoenix and Award.

By analogy with AMI, the way to enter the settings depends on the specific manufacturer of the PC or motherboard.

Award

Also a fairly well-known BIOS developer who became part of Phoenix in 1998. The company, along with BIOS, has developed various software products for testing PCs, pre-loaders and systems for managing the state of the computer.

In fact, after the merger, two different versions of the I / O system became the same version with minor functional differences.

A little about UEFI

Despite the fact that the first moves towards an alternative to BIOS - UEFI were made by Intel back in the 90s, the system has gained maximum distribution and popularity in our time. In general, this is also software built into the motherboard. But there are differences between the two interfaces. One of the main ones is system loading. The old BIOS accessed the boot sectors of the MBR disk, where it chose where to boot the system from. For this UEFI uses a special file located in a special section of the hard disk. That is, in order for the disk to work with UEFI, it must have the appropriate markup, which in this environment is called GPT - GUID partition table. This approach and the use of 64-bit elements in GPT, instead of 32-bit ones, made it possible to increase the number of physical partitions from 4 to 128.

Another interesting difference is the support for the Secure Boot technology, which is relevant only for Windows operating systems. In other words, UEFI may contain a means of verifying the digital signature installed on the system computer. That is, if UEFI detects a version other than the one embedded in it, it will not allow the PC to start, controlling all stages of the boot. Thus, UEFI prevents malicious code from entering the system at boot time.

In order for the user to apply the old MBR boot approach, if necessary, you can switch UEFI to Legacy Boot mode.

In general, UEFI has a modular structure that can be easily expanded over time, adding new functionality and capabilities. In addition, UEFI opens up a lot of space for computer manufacturers, as they can create their own unique versions of the upgraded BIOS.

And new functionality and capabilities make the interface intuitive and human-oriented, so that any user can quickly figure out any type of settings.

Instead of a conclusion

You can always get into any BIOS or UEFI by pressing one of the popular keys at the time of testing the hardware: DEL, F1, F2 or F8. Others are rarely used. Visiting the BIOS is pretty rare, unless you reinstall Windows every other day or test your PC's overclocking. As far as UEFI is concerned, perhaps for many users it will bring more order and simplicity to working with a computer.