The System BIOS
The system BIOS chip shown in Figure 2.23 is responsible for configuring many parts of your computer, including
Floppy, optical, and hard drive configuration
Memory size and speed
Drive boot sequence
Built-in port configuration
System security
Power management
Plug-and-play hardware configuration
Processor compatibility and speed setting
Essentially, the BIOS acts as a restaurant menu of possible choices, and the CMOS RAM (which might be a separate chip or built into the South Bridge on some chipsets) stores the selections made from the menu of choices. When you received your computer from the factory, default selections were already stored in the BIOS, but as you add devices or customize your computer to perform certain operations, ...
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