Absolute Beginners Guide to A+ Certification. Covers the Hardware and Operating Systems Exam

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In this chapter

  • What Does the BIOS Control?

  • System Configuration with the BIOS

  • Getting Support for Your BIOS

  • BIOS Upgrades

You know what the CPU does ”it does the "thinking" for the computer. But, how does the CPU "know" what kinds of drives are connected to the computer? What tells the CPU when the memory is ready to be read or written to? What turns on the USB ports or turns them off? The answer to all these questions is the BIOS. Next to the CPU, the BIOS (basic input/output system ) chip is the most important chip found on the motherboard.

The BIOS is firmware ("software on a chip"), and it performs a lot of different jobs during system operation. So, is it hardware, software, or firmware?

On systems that use 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows (Windows 95 or newer ), the BIOS doesn't do much after the boot (system startup) process has been completed. However, during the boot process, the BIOS is an extremely critical component. What jobs does the BIOS do? The major tasks performed by the BIOS include

  • Configuration and control of devices built into the motherboard; these are sometimes referred to as standard devices

  • The power-on self-test ( POST )

  • The location of an operating system, to which it turns over control of the system by using the Bootstrap loader

The CD included with this book contains important Study Lab material for this chapter, as well as Chapters 2 “22 in this book. The Study Lab for each chapter contains terms to study, exercises, and practice tests ”all in printable PDF format (Adobe Acrobat Reader is included on the CD, too). These Study Lab materials will help you gear up for the A+ Exam. Also, the CD includes an industry-leading test engine from PrepLogic, which simulates the actual A+ test so that you can be sure that you're ready when test day arrives. Don't let the A+ test intimidate you. If you've read the chapters, worked through the Study Lab, and passed the practice tests from PrepLogic, you should be well prepared to ace the test!

Also, you'll notice that some words throughout each chapter are in bold format. These are study terms that are defined in the Study Lab. Be sure to consult the Study Lab when you are finished with this chapter to test what you've learned.

The BIOS doesn't do its job alone. It works with two other important components :

  • CMOS memory

  • Motherboard battery (also called the CMOS battery)

In the following sections, you'll learn more about how these components work together to control system startup and onboard hardware.

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