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Chapter 3
BIOS Configuration
Starting Setup
The Award BIOS is immediately activated when you first turn on the computer.
The BIOS reads system configuration information in CMOS RAM and begins
the process of checking out the system and configuring it through the power-
on self test (POST).
When these preliminaries are finished, the BIOS seeks an operating system on
one of the data storage devices (hard drive, floppy drive, etc.). The BIOS
launches the operating system and hands control of system operations to it.
During POST, you can start the Setup program in one of two ways:
1. By pressing <Del> immediately after switching the system on, or
2. By pressing the <Del> key when the following message appears briefly at
the bottom of the screen during POST:
TO ENTER SETUP BEFORE BOOT PRESS DEL KEY
If the message disappears before you respond and you still wish to enter
Setup, restart the system to try again by turning it OFF then ON or pressing
the RESET button on the system case. You may also restart by simultaneously
pressing <Ctrl>, <Alt>, and <Delete> keys. If you do not press the keys at the
correct time and the system does not boot, an error message appears and you
are again asked to
PRESS F1 TO CONTINUE, DEL TO ENTER SETUP
Setup Keys
The table on the following page shows how to navigate in Setup using the
keyboard.
Getting Help
Press F1 to pop up a small help window that describes the appropriate keys to
use and the possible selections for the highlighted item. To exit the Help
Window press <Esc> or the F1 key again.