Datasheet
Identifying Motherboards
37
Ports and Peripherals
In CMOS Setup, you can enable or disable integrated components, such as built-in video
cards, sound cards, or network cards. You may disable them in order to replace them with
different models on expansion boards, for example.
You can also disable the on-board I/O ports for the motherboard, including parallel,
serial, and USB. Depending on the utility, there may also be settings that enable or disable
USB keyboard usage, Wake on LAN, or other special features.
In addition to enabling or disabling legacy parallel ports, you can assign an operational
mode to the port. Table 1.5 lists the common modes for a parallel port. When you’re
trouble shooting parallel port problems, sometimes trying a different mode will help.
TABLE 1.5 Parallel Port Settings
Setting Description Use
EPP (enhanced
parallel port)
Supports bidirectional
communication and high
transfer rates
Newer ink-jet and laser printers that
can utilize bidirectional communi-
cation and scanners
ECP (enhanced
capabilities port)
Supports bidirectional
communication and high
transfer rates
Newer ink-jet and laser printers that
can utilize bidirectional communi-
cation, connectivity devices, and
scanners
SPP (standard
parallel port)
Supports bidirectional
communication
Older ink-jet and laser printers and
slower scanners
Passwords
In most CMOS Setup programs, you can set a supervisor password. Doing so requires
a password to be entered in order to use the CMOS Setup program, effectively locking
out users from making changes to it. You may also be able to set a user password, which
restricts the PC from booting unless the password is entered.
To reset a forgotten password, you can remove the CMOS battery to reset everything.
There also may be a Reset jumper on the motherboard.
Virus Protection
Some CMOS Setup programs have a rudimentary virus-protection mechanism that pre-
vents applications from writing to the boot sector of a disk without your permission. If this
setting is turned on and you install a new operating system, a confirmation box may appear
at some point, warning you that the operating system’s Setup program is trying to write to
the boot sector. Let it.
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