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Using the BIOS Setup Utility
APRICOT 340 OWNER’S HANDBOOK 3/1
3 USING THE BIOS SETUP UTILITY
BIOS (pronounced “bye-oss”) stands for basic input/output
system. The BIOS operates at the boundary between the computer’s
hardware (the processor, memory, and so on) and its software (the
operating system and your programs), and effectively mediates
between the two.
The BIOS is permanently encoded in an area of read-only memory
(ROM), although it can be modified if necessary by an authorized
maintainer.
BIOS Setup is a utility programmed into the computer’s BIOS
ROM. Its main purpose is to allow you to view and alter the
computer’s hardware configuration. It is also used to configure
various security and power-saving options. Configuring the
computer is necessary to ensure that the software you use can
recognise and exploit the hardware’s capabilities.
The current configuration is kept in a special area of memory, called
CMOS memory, and maintained by a small battery so that the
configuration is preserved even while the computer is switched off.
Your computer arrives already configured, but may need to be
configured again after you add or remove add-on options such as
memory modules or expansion cards.