System configuration summary - After the BIOS completes its work but before it starts loading the operating system into memory, it displays a summary of the system configuration.

System configuration summary

After the BIOS completes its work but before it starts loading the operating system into memory, it displays a summary of the system configuration. What's displayed depends of the manufacturer and version of the BIOS. Typically, the following information is displayed:

l Processor: The type of microprocessor, such as Pentium, Pentium Pro, and so on.

l Coprocessor: If a math coprocessor or floating point unit (FPU) is installed on the system, it is indicated as "Installed." Virtually every processor since the 386DX (with the exception of SX models of the 386 and 486 processors) has an integrated FPU and is indicated as "Integrated."

l Clock speed: Measures the clock speed of the processor in MHz. This information may be displayed on the same line as the processor type.

l Floppy disk drives: Indicates whether the system has any disk drives, the size, and capacity of each floppy disk.

l Hard disk, CD-ROM, and DVD drives: If the system includes ATA disk drives or ATAPI optical or tape drives, the BIOS displays the drive types detected, including the primary master and slave drives and any secondary slaves and masters found, including the manufacturer, capacity, and access modes of each drive.

l Memory size: Indicates the amount of memory in base, extended, and cache memory. The base memory (conventional memory) size is always 640KB. Displays the amount of extended memory on the system minus the amount set aside for the BIOS. The BIOS doesn't report the amount of memory reserved for the high-memory area that contains the BIOS itself. The cache size is displayed separately.

l Memory type: The type and configuration of the physical memory is displayed, including the number of memory banks or modules installed and the memory technology in use. For example, the display may indicate "EDO DRAM at Bank 1" or "FP: 0 was detected."

l Video type: Unless your computer is more than 10 years old, the display type is usually

"VGA/EGA," which really doesn't tell you anything except that the video adapter was detected.

l Serial ports: The system resource addresses (usually 3F8h and 2F8h) of any serial or COM ports detected.

l Parallel ports: The system resource address (usually 378h) of the parallel port is displayed.

l Plug and Play (PnP) devices: If any PnP adapter cards are detected by the BIOS, a description of each may be displayed.