Concept in Definition ABC

Lips (Basic Input Output System is a firmware interface standard for PC computers, that allows the user to control certain behaviors, components and peripherals of their machines.

The first thing that runs

When we press the button to turn on our computer, the first thing this will do is go to the BIOS to find the boot instructions, since there you will find, for example, the definition of the order of the drives storage to which the computer must fetch a operating system to load it into memory and start working.

That allows us

The BIOS is also responsible for giving "a review" to the hardware components that make up the computer, and warn if any of them does not work properly or is defective.

From the BIOS interface, and always depending on what the manufacturer and the computer model allow, we can also control the temperature to which the CPU (a very important piece of information), and to know if the fan that is used to being on the microchip is working correctly.

Some parameters such as velocity to which the processor it is also possible to establish them via BIOS.

Manufacturers

It is curious, but the big computer manufacturers have not, traditionally, been the same as manufactured the firmware for the BIOS, residing this last task in specialized manufacturers such as Phoenix, AMI or Award.

Upgradeable

BIOS firmware can be upgradeable. To carry out this operation, it is necessary to use special tools from the same company that manufactures the BIOS or from the manufacturer of the computer, with files that contain the code to install. The process is delicate, so you have to follow the instructions to the letter.

Updating the BIOS many times can fix existing problems with the hardware. If you want to update the BIOS of your computer, it is recommended that you contact a technician professional computer scientist or visit your computer manufacturer's website for information and tools necessary.

How to access the BIOS of our computer

We can access the BIOS of our computer to modify certain parameters and choose, for example, if we want the virtualization instructions of the processor (case that the CPU has them) activated or deactivated, or choose a disk unit to which to go to find the operating system to load and, with that, start to work.

The way to access the BIOS interface varies between manufacturers and may even vary in a certain computer model (although it is not the most frequent) due to changes in supply contracts, but in general access is done by pressing a key, usually the function key (F2, F9, F10, F11 or F12 are the most frequent), or the delete key (Delete of keyboard numeric).

The future of BIOS

Despite the fact that to this day, the BIOS is still present in a large number of computers and is still integrated into new machines, its destiny is to be overtaken and replaced by the UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface), which adapts this firmware to new times and new technologies, keeping backward compatibility with the BIOS.

Photos: iStock - princigalli / alberto gagna

Topics in BIOS