BIOS (Determine Input/Output System)

BIOS (Determine Input/Output System)

1. 1 - How To determine BIOS Version: 1) Use either command MSINFO32 or DXDIAG 2) Find Update via research 3) Secure power source 4) Flash (Install) BIOS

2. 2 - BIOS Component Info: 1) Likely located near the CMOS battery (CMOS retains changes to BIOS) 2) Look for chip likely close to CMOS bettery, pins on all 4 sides.

3. 3 - Getting To BIOS: Press correct key on startup eg F2, Esc etc, research if needed

4. 4 - Info In The BIOS: 1) RAM 2) Used/Open slotes on motherboard 3) Hard drive info like boot order, attached to which port, type , manufacturer 4) Optical Drive 5) CPU info like type, manufacturer, speed, cache rates

5. 5 - Can Change/Configure in BIOS: 1) Hard drive, USB, CD, PXE booting order 2) Enable/Disabble Input/ Output devices 3) Can enable WOL (Wake On Lan) 4) CPU Clock Speeds

6. 6 - BIOS And Diagnostic Info: 1) POST (power on self test): CPU and POST BIOS ROM, System Timer, Video Card, Memory, Keyboard, Disk Drives 2) Can use a POST tool on motherboards

7. 7 - BIOS Security: 1) Manage Supervisor Passwords (Can change BIOS - Tech support access) and User Passwords (Cannot change BIOS - Any other user) 2) Lojac (tracking firmware) 3) TPM (Trusted Platform Module) - see BIOS chip info, holds security and encryption keys, can be used to encrypt passwords and info on the computer