CompTIA A+® Certification All-In-One For Dummies®, 2nd Edition

Chapter 4. Telling Your BIOS from Your CMOS

Exam Objectives

• Identifying the purpose of BIOS

• Upgrading a system BIOS

• Identifying the purpose of CMOS

• Identifying common settings contained in CMOS

A big part of system configuration is understanding what CMOS is and how the different settings within CMOS can help you troubleshoot a system. A wonderful talent to have as an A+ Certified Professional is the ability to understand CMOS and its functionality. Although CMOS doesn't seem like a place where you'd need to go every day, many PC-related problems can be solved in CMOS.

In this chapter, I introduce you to some of the common CMOS options that are found in modern systems. Keep in mind that these options might be labeled differently on your system or might not even exist on your system. The CMOS setup program is unique to each system. For example, the CMOS setup program on a Compaq system differs from that of a Dell even though the concept of CMOS remains the same.

In this chapter, I also make you aware of popular CMOS settings so that when a scenario arises that calls for such a change, you are comfortable with not only what you need to do but also how to do it.