2006-12-20 02:34:45 · 20 answers · asked by chi 4 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
Acronym for basic input/output system, the built-in software that determines what a computer can do without accessing programs from a disk. On PCs, the BIOS contains all the code required to control the keyboard, display screen, disk drives, serial communications, and a number of miscellaneous functions.
The BIOS is typically placed in a ROM chip that comes with the computer (it is often called a ROM BIOS). This ensures that the BIOS will always be available and will not be damaged by disk failures. It also makes it possible for a computer to boot itself. Because RAM is faster than ROM, though, many computer manufacturers design systems so that the BIOS is copied from ROM to RAM each time the computer is booted. This is known as shadowing.
Many modern PCs have a flash BIOS, which means that the BIOS has been recorded on a flash memory chip, which can be updated if necessary.
The PC BIOS is fairly standardized, so all PCs are similar at this level (although there are different BIOS versions). Additional DOS functions are usually added through software modules. This means you can upgrade to a newer version of DOS without changing the BIOS.
PC BIOSes that can handle Plug-and-Play (PnP) devices are known as PnP BIOSes, or PnP-aware BIOSes. These BIOSes are always implemented with flash memory rather than ROM.
2006-12-20 02:38:07 · answer #1 · answered by R2 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Bios is a plain and simple acronym for basic input/output system, it is the built-in software on your computer, that tells your computer what it can do without acessing hard disks. On a PC, Bios contains code to control the keyboard, screen, disk drives, serial communications, and other functions. BIOS is usually in a ROM chip that is included with the computer (It is often called ROM BIOS. This protects BIOS from not being availible when hard drives fail. This makes a computer be able to boot itself. There's a breif definition.
2006-12-20 02:41:33 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
BIOS, in computing, stands for Basic Input/Output System also incorrectly known as Basic Integrated Operating System. BIOS refers to the software code run by a computer when first powered on. The primary function of the BIOS is to prepare the machine so other software programs stored on various media (such as hard drives, floppies, and CDs) can load, execute, and assume control of the computer. This process is known as booting up.
BIOS can also be said to be a coded program embedded on a chip that recognises and controls various devices that make up the computer. The term BIOS is specific to personal computer vendors. Among other classes of computers, the generic terms boot monitor, boot loader or boot ROM are commonly used.
The term first appeared in the CP/M operating system, describing the part of CP/M loaded during boot time that interfaced directly with the hardware (CP/M machines usually had a simple boot loader in ROM, and nothing else). Most versions of DOS have a file called "IBMBIO.COM" or "IO.SYS" that is analogous to the CP/M disk BIOS.
2006-12-20 02:36:26 · answer #3 · answered by Shutterbug 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
BIOS is Basic Input Operating System
2006-12-20 02:39:35 · answer #4 · answered by mohd matheen 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
BIOS, in computing, stands for Basic Input/Output System also incorrectly known as Basic Integrated Operating System.
2006-12-20 02:37:29 · answer #5 · answered by Doug H 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
BIOS stands for Basic Input/Output System.
Basically, it's software that prepares the machine so that the hardware can be properly used to load more software.
A much more detailed explanation can be found on wikipedia.
2006-12-20 02:39:48 · answer #6 · answered by Paul b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Basic Input Output System.
2006-12-20 02:36:42 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bios - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bios
2006-12-20 02:36:11 · answer #8 · answered by arcaemous 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Bios are a control chip in your system that contains the configuration set up, start-up routine, and system check. It can be manually altered but only if you know what you are doing. On start-up it scans all peripherals, memory and systemic information to make sure they are in good order.
2006-12-20 02:39:33 · answer #9 · answered by Tom H 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
BIOS - Basic input/output system
2006-12-20 02:37:32 · answer #10 · answered by BlytheLyssa 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋