Specifications

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Maintaining, Installing, and Configuring a Motherboard
3
For the exact method you need to use to enter setup, see the documentation for your
motherboard. A message such as the following usually appears on the screen near the
beginning of the boot:
Press DEL to change Setup
or
Press F2 for Setup
When you press the appropriate key or keys, a setup screen appears with menus and
Help features that are often very user-friendly. Although the exact menus depend on the
maker and version of components you are working with, the sample screens that follow
will help you become familiar with the general contents of BIOS setup screens. Figure 3-59
shows a main menu for setup. On this menu, you can change the system date and time, the
keyboard language, and other system features.
Figure 3-59 BIOS Setup Main menu
Courtesy: Course Technology/Cengage Learning
The power menu in BIOS setup allows you to configure automatic power-saving features
for your system, such as suspend mode or a sleep state. Figure 3-60 shows a sample power
menu. In most situations, it is best to allow the OS to manage power rather than use BIOS
settings. You will learn more about power management in Chapter 11.
CHANGING THE BOOT SEQUENCE
Figures 3-61 and 62 show two examples of a boot menu in BIOS setup. Here, you can set
the order in which the system tries to boot from certain devices (called the boot sequence).
Most likely when you first install a hard drive or an operating system, you will want to have
the BIOS attempt to first boot from a CD and, if no CD is present, turn to the hard drive.
After the OS is installed, to prevent accidental boots from a CD or other media, change
BIOS setup to boot first from the hard drive.
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