~ 21 ~
AWARD BIOS SETUP
Award‘s ROM BIOS provides a built-in Setup program that allows users to modify the
basic system configuration and settings. The modified data will be stored in a
battery-backed CMOS RAM so that this data will be retained even when the power is
turned off. In general, the information saved in the CMOS RAM remains unchanged
unless there is a configuration change in the system, such as hard drive replacement or
new equipment installment
3.1 R
UNNING
AWARD BIOS
The Setup Utility is stored in the BIOS ROM. When the power of the computer system is
turned on, a screen message will appear to give you an opportunity to call up the Setup
Utility while the BIOS will enter the Power On Self Test (POST) routines. The POST
routines perform various diagnostic checks while initializing the board hardware. If the
routines encounter an error during the tests, the error will be reported in one of two ways,
a series of short beeps or an error message on the screen. There are two kinds of errors,
fatal and non-fatal. The system can usually continue the boot up sequence with
non-fatal errors. Non-fatal error messages usually appear on the screen along with the
following instructions:
“ Press <F1> to RESUME ”
Write down the message and press the F1 key to continue the boot up sequence. After
the POST routines are completed, the following message appears:
“ Press DEL to enter SETUP ”
Entering Setup
Turn on the power of the computer system and press <Del> immediately. If you don’t
have the chance to respond, reset the system by simultaneously pressing the <Ctrl>,
<Alt> and <Delete> keys, or by pushing the ‘ Reset ’ button on the system cabinet. You
can also restart by turning the system OFF then ON.
CHAPTER 3.