[ The PC Guide | Systems and Components Reference Guide | Motherboard and System Devices | System BIOS ]

BIOS System Boot Operations

One of the most important functions that the BIOS plays is to boot up the system. When the PC is first turned on, its main system memory is empty, and it needs to find instructions immediately to tell it what to run to start up the PC. These it finds within the BIOS program, because the BIOS is in read-only permanent memory and so is always available for use, even when the rest of system memory is empty.

This section takes a look at what is involved in booting the PC, including a discussion of the steps in the system boot process, and a look at the power-on self-test (POST) that is conducted whenever the system starts up.

Next: System Boot Sequence

Home  -  Search  -  Topics  -  Up