3.4 – BIOS & UEFI

Question 1

Computer Firmware

Answer 1

• BIOS = Basic Input Output System

* UEFI = Unified Extensible Firmware

Question 2

BIOS / UEFI

Answer 2

inlcuded on every motherboard to initiate the boot process & to manage inegreated hardware

Question 3

ROM

Answer 3

ROM = Read-Only Memory

Chip is used to store BIOS / UEFI

Question 4

UEFI features [only]

Secure Boot

Answer 4

Secure Boot = blocks untrusted code from running at boot up [stops viruses]

Faster Startup = loads an OS faster than a BIOS

Mouse & keyboard interactions = BIOS only keyboard interactions

Question 5

CMOS

Answer 5

Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor

—Used to store configuration changes done to the BIOS / UEFI

Question 6

CMOS setup utility

Answer 6

can be accessed by pressing ‘DELETE’ or ‘F2’ during boot. Varies by system

— AKA = BIOS setup utility, UEFI setup utility

Question 7

RTC

Answer 7

Real-Time Clock

—Is used to provide the time to the computer system [reset if battery dead]

Question 8

A boot time password

Answer 8

can be configured to be required before OS loads

Question 9

CMOS is physically located on volatile memory

Answer 9

– Volatile memory – requires power to store info

– CR2032 – coin batteries keep power to CMOS

– Battery dies / removed = CMOS reset to default settings

Question 10

Clear CMOS: if made changes

Answer 10

1. system doesn’t want to boot
2. screwed up boot order
3. overclock the processor
4. Motherboards have clear CMOS switch / jumper
5. Jumper = 3 pins
   —Put cap on pins 1 & 2 = normal
   —Put cap on pins 2 & 3 = clear

Question 11

Common CMOS Settings

Boot device piority

Answer 11

Control which storage device the computer will first boot from

Boot Time Passwords

Enable / Disable access to ports
* USB, Thunderbolt, Serial. & Network Interfaces

WOL = Wake-to-LAN

Virtualization Support
* Has to be enabled [run virtual machines]

CPU multipliers & voltages

RAM timing & voltages