BIOS Setup Utility Information and Menu Options

Applies To:

Microsoft Windows XP Professional What is the BIOS Setup utility?

Use the BIOS Setup utility to change important BIOS settings that are stored in the PC. Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) is a program that controls communication between all input and output devices on the PC (such as disk drives, display, keyboard, mouse, and printer). The BIOS settings are stored in a chip on the motherboard CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) memory. A battery on the motherboard keeps the settings from being lost when the system is turned off.

The BIOS stores configuration information such as:

• The addresses of devices (hard disk drives, for example) that are attached to the PC.
• The startup sequence of the PC.
• The amount of system and extended memory.

CAUTION:

The information stored by the BIOS Setup utility is essential for proper PC operation. Do not change settings without understanding what will happen. Use caution when making changes in the BIOS Setup utility. A mistake could prevent the PC from operating properly or Windows from opening.

Entering the BIOS Setup utility

You may have difficulty accessing the BIOS Setup utility screen, because you must press a specific key (usually F1 , or Esc ) very quickly before the Windows screen appears. If you do not enter the BIOS Setup screen on your first try, repeat the following steps until you are successful.

To open the BIOS Setup screen:

1. Turn off the computer and wait about 5 seconds.
2. Turn on the computer.
3. When the first screen appears, press the F1 or F10 key on the keyboard. (You can press the key more than once.) The BIOS Setup Utility Main menu appears.

NOTE:

On certain Compaq Presario PCs (prior to 2002) press the F10 key at the logo screen to enter setup.

4. Use the keyboard to navigate through the menus.

Navigating through the BIOS Setup utility

Help is displayed on the right side or bottom of the screen.

To navigate through the BIOS, use the keyboard keys in the following table:

Key on keyboard				Description of function
Left or right arrow key				Selects a different menu screen (moves the cursor left or right).
Up or down arrow key				Selects an item (moves the cursor up or down).
Enter				Executes a command or selects a submenu.
F5				Loads the default configuration values for the current menu. If you think a BIOS setting may be wrong, you can reload the default settings. For more information, see Reloading the default settings .
F10				Saves the current values and exits the BIOS Setup program.
Esc (Escape)				Exits the menu or exits the BIOS Setup program without saving.
	NOTE:	Your mouse will not function in the BIOS setup screens.

Reloading the BIOS default settings

To reload the factory BIOS settings to the setup default:

1. Press the F5 function key.
2. Select Yes or OK .
3. Press the Enter key.
4. Press the F10 function key.
5. Select Yes or OK to save the default settings.

You can also complete the following steps to reload the factory BIOS settings using the menu:

1. In the BIOS Setup utility, select the Exit tab.
2. Select Load Setup Defaults .
3. The system prompts you to load the optimized setup defaults. Select Yes or OK and press the Enter key.
4. Select Exit Saving Changes .
5. Press Esc and then Enter to exit Setup.

BIOS Setup menu tabs

The BIOS Setup utility screen has five different tabs along the top. The tab headings are listed as follows:

Main	Advanced	Power	Boot	Exit
Allocates resources for hardware components BIOS Setup initially displays the Main menu screen.	Configures advanced features available through the chipset	Configures power management features	Selects boot options and power supply controls	Saves or discards changes to Setup program options

BIOS Setup menu screens

Each screen shows different options for modifying the system configuration.

Main menu

The Main tab of the BIOS Setup shows the following typical items on the screen. (Your system may be different):

Figure 1: Example of Phoenix - Award main screen

Figure 2: Example of American Megatrends main screen

System Time

· System Date

· Language

· Floppy Diskette (optional)

· Channel Devices (types of hard disk drives and CD/DVD optical disc drives). Select the Channel Device to view the Channel Device submenu and the hard disk drive settings, such as cylinders, sectors, and capacity, and CD/DVD optical disc drive settings.

· Installed Memory (RAM). Includes Memory Banks.

· BIOS Revision

· Core Version

Channel Device submenu

Two common Channel Device submenu screens and their options are listed below.

Example 1:

· Device: (Hard disk drive or optical disc drive)

· Vendor

· Size

· LBA Mode

· Block Mode

· PIO Mode

· Heads

· Async DMA

· Ultra DMA

· SMART Support (Available on many PCs that were released after May 2005. Refer to Testing the Hard Drive Using SMART for more information.)

· Type

· Block (Multi-Sector Transfer) Mode

· PIO Mode

· DMA Mode

· 32Bit Data Transfer Mode

Example 2:

· IDE HDD Auto-Detection

· IDE Channel 0 Master [Auto]

· Access Mode [Auto]

· Capacity

· Cylinder

· Head

· Precomp

· Landing Zone

· Sector

· SMART Support (Available on many PCs that were released after May 2005. Refer to Testing the Hard Drive Using SMART for more information.)

· Transfer Mode

Advanced menu

The Advanced tab of the BIOS Setup shows the following typical items on the screen. (Your system may be different and not include all items):

CAUTION:

Setting items on this menu to incorrect values may cause your system to malfunction.

Figure 3: Example of an Advanced screen

· CPU type

· CPU speed

· Cache RAM (Memory used by the processor)

· Plug and Play O/S

· Reset Configuration Data (Initialize the NVRAM)

· Primary Video Adapter (The display adapter type used at startup - Set to the slot-type if installing a video card)

· Onboard Video Memory Size (The amount of memory taken from system memory to be used by the onboard video hardware)

· PS/2 Mouse

· Large Disk Access Mode

· Local Bus IDE Adapter

· Onboard SATA Adapter

· Onboard PATA/SATA Adapters

· Onboard PATA/SATA Configuration

· USB Legacy Mode Support

· Onboard TV-out Format

· Onboard LAN

NOTE:

Onboard devices like LAN, audio, or video may also appear under PCI or I/O Device configuration.

· Onboard LAN Boot ROM

· Onboard 1394

· Onboard Audio (Disable when installing an Audio card)

· Supervisor Password

Power menu

The Power tab of the BIOS Setup shows the following typical items on the screen. (Your system may be different and not include all items):

Figure 4: Example of a Power screen

Two common Power menu screens and options are listed below.

Example 1:

· After AC Power Failure

· WOL (Wake-On-Lan) in S4 power state

· Hyper-Threading (Advanced or Hidden)

· No Execution (NX/XD)

Example 2:

· Power Savings

· Auto Suspend Timeout

· Hard Disk Timeout

· IDE Primary Master (power saving setting)

· IDE Primary Slave (power saving setting)

· IDE Secondary Master (power saving setting)

· IDE Secondary Slave (power saving setting)

· IRQ assigned to modem

· Power button behavior

· Restore on AC/Power Loss

Boot menu

The Boot tab of the BIOS Setup shows the following typical items on the screen. (Your system may be different and not include all items):

Figure 5: Example of a Boot screen

· Boot-time Diagnostic screen

· Boot Device Priority (The order for the boot process. For example: removable devices, DVD optical drive, and hard disk drive.)

Exit menu

The Exit tab of the BIOS Setup shows the following typical items on the screen. (Your system may be different and not include all items):

Figure 6: Example of an Exit screen

· Exit Saving Changes

· Exit Discarding Changes

· Load Setup Defaults

· Discard Changes

· Save Changes