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In the Forums... |
Written By: Keith "Farrel" McClellan Posted: February 25, 2000 Introduction The CPU and BIOS, together, are probably the most important parts of your system. The CPU, or Central Processing Unit, is responsible for handling every command that the computer processes, and by rights could be called the computer all on its own. The BIOS, or Basic Input Output System, controls that processor and keeps it running. Because they are the most important parts of your system, they are also the most important parts to tweak, and in many ways they have the most leverage in that regard. With that leverage, however, comes responsibility. Messing around with your CPU and BIOS can be a very dangerous affair, and if it isn't handled properly it can cause serious damage to your hardware. If you aren't an advanced computer user, or at least willing to risk your computarial investment, you probably should stay to the tamer BIOS tweaks mentioned within this guide. We at Tweak3D will not take responsibility for any damage that occurs to your system. As a precaution, before continuing on with the tweaks, write down any settings that you plan on changing. This way, if there is a problem, you can go back to your original settings and hopefully recover your system. Flashing your BIOS Flashing your BIOS is the process of upgrading your BIOS by overwriting its EPROM (EPROM is a type of ROM chip that can be overwritten). Flashing your BIOS can increase speed and stability, as well as add new features and greater compatibility to your system. Because it is more difficult to do than upgrading your drivers, I will go over it in detail here. The first step, of course, would be to reach the manufacturer's website and download the BIOS flashing utility. It is important to download the most current version, because companies will have older BIOSes posted for compatibility reasons. After you have downloaded the file, make a simple boot disk and copy the extracted BIOS files to the disk (yes, you have to decompress them before copying them on the disk). Then boot the computer using the disk and run the flashing utility. When you are flashing, be careful of the following: Don't turn your computer off until it's done Don't do it during anytime where there could be a possible electrical disruption Don't piss on your computer The last one is just a general rule. If the computer gets turned off during the flashing process (or the power goes out - that means this is a big no-no during a thunder storm) there is a very good chance that the computer will no longer work and you will have to order another BIOS chip from your motherboard manufacturer (if it is socketed) or buy a whole new motherboard. |
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