Computersight -

BIOS

You enter the BIOS (Basic input and output system) on your computer. Turn on your computer, and then quickly hit the BIOS key before the Windows (or other OS) splash screen appears. The BIOS key is different for a variety of computers. Commonly, you will hit one of the following: Delete key, or a function key such as, F1, F2, or F10. If you boot from a CD, then your computer may require you to hit the “C” key to change the booting location (do not confuse with booting order).  

CMOS

You select the CMOS from BIOS screen. Most BIOS configuration interfaces will read “Standard CMOS Features”. Select the standard CMOS features with the arrow keys on your keyboard, and the press Enter. Locate the drive parameters. These parameters are printed on the screen as Primary and Secondary IDE. Select a drive parameter with the arrow keys on your keyboard, and then hit the Enter key. The IDE HDD (hard drive) is displayed. The text next to the IDE HDD will display the word “Auto”, which allows you to automatically detect drive parameters. Hit the Enter key to auto setup your drive parameters.

IRQ Conflicts

In BIOS, select Power Management Setup. Hit Enter. Select Power Management Option, and set it to “User Define”. Select Hard Drive (HDD) Power Down, and change the setting to Disabled. Change Suspend mode to Disabled. Select IRQ, and then hit Enter. Select PnP/ PCI Configurations, and then hit Enter. Set the PNP/OS to “No”.

Drive Bypass

Select Integrated Peripherals. Select “On Chip IDE Device”. The IDE devices screen is populated with drives and modes of operation. The common mode of operation is PIO. To relieve the processor from constant traffic from drives, change the PIO mode to DMA. Hit the enter key.

Super BIOS

Return to the BIOS screen where you will select options to make your computer run faster and smoother. Select BIOS features. Select Super Boot to make your computer load the OS faster. Select the BIOS Protect option, and Super Recovery. Hit the Enter button to enable the option. The BIOS recovery option will partition your drive (sectioning off a portion of the hard drive). This isolation of a portion of the hard drive makes it impossible for harmful software to access the BIOS through your computer’s operating system. Select the IDE drive parameter when prompted, and then hit the Enter key.

Proper Memory Parameters

Power up your computer and get in to BIOS by pressing the F1 key. Select “Advanced Chipset Features” from the BIOS menu screen. If you are making changes to your clock/ drive control, it is due to your computer running at an incorrect clock rate. When the computer system crashes or freezes it is a sign that the hard drive’s parameters are set greater than the central processing unit’s front-side-bus clock frequency. To stabilize the parameters to your hard drive, select the DRAM Clock/ Drive Control, and press Enter. Select SPD and press Enter. Select the timing option, and set it to “Auto By SPD”.

Bios Trouble

If you make a mistake, and you have set up the BIOS so that your computer no longer boots the operating system, turn off the computer. Remove the power plug cable from the back of the computer. Open the computer, and locate the mother board (A large, square shape CPU chip sits on the board). Near the BIOS IC or the CMOS label on the circuit board is a CLS CMOS jumper. Pull the jumper out of the first and second pins, and move it to the second and third pins. Wait for a couple of seconds. Pull the jumper off the pins, and return the jumper to it’s original location in the first and second pins. The default settings will be re-implemented in the BIOS CMOS. You can now reboot your computer. Your BIOS settings are all returned to factory set values.