Is it BIOS or Setup ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Gary
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Gary

It's no big deal but I'm curious. When I go into the setup / BIOS and
set parameters such as clock multipliers or boot devices ( floppy, CD
etc ) am I in setup or BIOS ? Perhaps the words are used
interchangeably too often.

Thanks in advance.

Gary
 
Gary said:
It's no big deal but I'm curious. When I go into the setup /
BIOS and set parameters such as clock multipliers or boot
devices ( floppy, CD etc ) am I in setup or BIOS ? Perhaps the
words are used interchangeably too often.
Click to expand...

I might call it BIOS setup. Setup is vague, in my opinion, because it
is used all over Windows. I probably always use "the BIOS" or "BIOS
setup". Semantically speaking, you have to know what is being set up.

Have fun.
 
It's no big deal but I'm curious. When I go into the setup / BIOS and
set parameters such as clock multipliers or boot devices ( floppy, CD
etc ) am I in setup or BIOS ? Perhaps the words are used
interchangeably too often.
Click to expand...
You're in CMOS setup which stores the values the BIOS refers to when
setting CPU FSB etc.
 
Conor said:
You're in CMOS setup which stores the values the BIOS refers to
when setting CPU FSB etc.
Click to expand...

I'm glad you brought that up. Although not uncommon, that is a bit
strange to me. A complementary metal oxide semiconductor is
hardware that can be used for anything just like any other
hardware. In my book, referring to the thing as CMOS is mainly
significant for suggesting its particular traits/properties, but
CMOS can be used for many things besides the basic input output
system (BIOS). So when you say CMOS setup, I think you could be
referring to something other than BIOS setup.

Sometimes logic fails us, especially when dealing with semantics.
A particular group of people might consider the term "CMOS setup"
to mean the same as I understand "BIOS setup" to mean, and that
makes it perfectly acceptable terminology among that group. Maybe
that group includes this group?
Click to expand...
 
Gary <gdn50 said:
It's no big deal but I'm curious. When I go into the setup / BIOS and
set parameters such as clock multipliers or boot devices ( floppy, CD
etc ) am I in setup or BIOS ? Perhaps the words are used
interchangeably too often.

Thanks in advance.

Gary
Click to expand...

I see it as a manner of semantics that those familiar with the function
will associate with by several names. Those not so familiar may be
completely lost, even by any of the names/terms.

Actually, you're seeing the results of code being executed. That set of
code constitutes the 'Setup and/or BIOS Setup' functionality of that
particular motherboard. The code is stored in some form of non-volatile
memory and provides a way to display/edit the various BIOS (Basic
Input/Output System) parameters that are also stored in non-volatile
memory.

The term 'CMOS' (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) refers to a
particular fabrication technology that yields a product that requires
very little power.

Glen
 
You are in the BIOS . You are "configuring" the BIOS
to do a few things you need to do ... probably during
system install. You don't "setup" the BIOS. It has a
default config. Also you don't "install" the BIOS. But
we use to :-) Ugh! We use to have to use a "bootstrap
loader" to "setup" the BIOS. Thank Cheeses those
days are gone. I still have my ROM loader card some
where out in the garage ... probably in my JameCo
junk box. They'd send us the hex code to type in to the
17xx? what-ever the heck that thing was ROM, and
it almost never worked. Apple even inverted the enable
pins on their roms so we could not clone their mobos.
What rats! Count your blessings.

johns
 
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