Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
technologies and features. Because these problems vary from board to board, it pays to periodically
check the board manufacturer's website to see whether updates are posted and what problems they
fix. Because new hardware and software that are not compatible with your system could cause it to
fail, I recommend you check the BIOS upgrades available for your system before you install new
hardware or software—particularly processors and OSs.
Where to Get Your BIOS Update
You must download most BIOS upgrades from the system or motherboard manufacturer's website.
The BIOS manufacturers do not offer BIOS upgrades because the BIOS in your motherboard did not
come directly from them. In other words, although you may think you have a Phoenix, AMI, or Award
BIOS, you really don't! Instead, you have a custom version of one of these BIOSs, which was
licensed by your motherboard manufacturer and uniquely customized for your particular motherboard.
As such, you must get any BIOS upgrades from the motherboard or system manufacturer because they
must be customized for your board or system as well.
Determining Your BIOS Version
When seeking a BIOS upgrade for a particular motherboard (or system), you need to know the
following information:
• Make and model of the motherboard (or system)
• Version of the existing BIOS
You usually can identify the BIOS you have by watching the screen when the system is first powered
up. It helps to turn on the monitor first because some take a few seconds to warm up or become
active, and the BIOS information is often displayed for only a few seconds. You may be able to press
the Pause key on the keyboard when the BIOS ID information is being displayed, which freezes it so
you can record the information. Pressing any other key allows the system startup to resume. If the
BIOS version information is not displayed automatically, then you may need to enter the BIOS Setup
program in order to see it.
Note
Many PCs do not display the typical POST screen. Instead, they show a logo for the
motherboard or PC manufacturer, which is usually referred to as a splash screen . To enter
BIOS Setup, you must press a key or keys (specific to the BIOS manufacturer). See the section,
Running or Accessing the BIOS Setup Program , ” for more information. You might hear some
in the industry refer to displaying a manufacturer's logo instead of the default POST screen as a
quiet boot. Often, you can change these BIOS splash screens to your own liking, even including
your own company logo or graphic of choice. Intel has free BIOS customization software
called the Intel Integrator Toolkit ( http://intel.com/go/itk ) that enables you to change or restore
the splash screen on Intel motherboards, as well as customize many other BIOS settings. Other
motherboard manufacturers also offer logo or splash screen customizers; for example,
GIGABYTE has a logo utility called Face-Wizard
( www.gigabyte.com/MicroSite/121/tech_facewizard.htm ) for its motherboards.
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