Difference between revisions of "Template:Laptop Build Guide BIOS"
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
*BIOS may report slightly less RAM than the total amount installed. It should not be more than a couple hundred megabytes. The 'missing' RAM is being reserved by the system.<br> | *BIOS may report slightly less RAM than the total amount installed. It should not be more than a couple hundred megabytes. The 'missing' RAM is being reserved by the system.<br> | ||
☐ Find the section for setting boot options. Set the following boot order: | ☐ Find the section for setting boot options. Set the following boot order: | ||
− | + | '''First: Optical Drive''' | |
− | + | '''Second: Hard Drive''' | |
− | + | '''Third: Network Device''' (also called LAN, Onboard NIC, or PXE) | |
*Disable or ignore other devices.<br> | *Disable or ignore other devices.<br> | ||
☐ '''Make sure that no BIOS or administrative passwords are set.''' | ☐ '''Make sure that no BIOS or administrative passwords are set.''' |
Revision as of 18:57, 13 September 2013
☐ Boot into BIOS.
☐ Verify that BIOS recognizes about the same amount of RAM as is marked on the Keeper label.
- BIOS may report slightly less RAM than the total amount installed. It should not be more than a couple hundred megabytes. The 'missing' RAM is being reserved by the system.
☐ Find the section for setting boot options. Set the following boot order:
First: Optical Drive Second: Hard Drive Third: Network Device (also called LAN, Onboard NIC, or PXE)
- Disable or ignore other devices.
☐ Make sure that no BIOS or administrative passwords are set.
- If you encounter a start-up or BIOS password, check with your instructor or visit the Free Geek wiki for further guidance.
Background information
- BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System. It is made up of software stored on a chip installed on the motherboard, rather than the hard drive.
- Different companies manufacture BIOS firmware chips. This is why different computers can have very different-looking BIOS screens.
- BIOS is being replaced by something called "Extensible Firmware Interface", or EFI. You may encounter this on newer systems. Functionally, it will appear very similar to BIOS.