To indicate that it has completed its task and is about to load the operating system and turn control of the PC over to it, the BIOS displays a summary of the PC's configuration.
Like all other BIOS displays, the information included depends on the manufacturer and version of the BIOS. The following lists what is typically included:
Processor The microprocessor, such as Pentium, Pentium 11, K6, Athlon, etc., in the PC. The newer BIOS versions recognize all Intel, Cyrix, and AMD processors, but some older versions will sometimes indicate a 5x86 processor from one of the other manufacturers as a Pentium. This is a display problem and shouldn't affect the performance of the system. Those processors that incorporate the SMM (System Management Mode) power management standard may be listed as a Pentium S processor.
Coprocessor Virtually every microprocessor since the 386DX (with the exception of SX models of the 386 and 486 processors) has had an FPU (floating point unit) integrated into the processor chip. The BIOS should indicate these as Integrated. However, if a separate math coprocessor or FPU chip is installed on the system, the coprocessor is indicated as Installed.
Clock speed The clock speed of the processor is its MHz (megahertz) rating, which indicates how may cycles per second the processor runs. This information is sometimes displayed with the processor type.
Floppy disk drives If one or more floppy drives is detected on the system, its size (3.5" or 5.25") and capacity (in kilobytes or megabytes) are displayed.
Hard disk and CD ROM drives The following information is displayed for each IDE/ATA disk drive or ATAP1 CD ROM drive detected: whether it is the primary or secondary master or slave, the name of the manufacturer, the drive's capacity, and the access mode of the drive. The drive designation (C:, D:, E:, etc.) assigned to the drive by the BIOS is also displayed.
Memory size System memory is divided into base, extended, and cache. The BIOS displays the amount of memory allocated to each type. Base memory (a.k.a. conventional memory) is always 640KB. Extended memory represents the remaining amount of memory on the system. The amount of cache memory is displayed as a separate number.
Memory type This information regards the physical components making up the system memory and should not be confused with base, extended, or cache types of memory. The information displayed includes the number and technology of the memory banks or modules installed on the system. For example, the display may indicate "EDO DRAM at Bank 1" or "FP: 0 was detected."
Video type If your computer is relatively new (not more than 10 years old), the BIOS will display your video type as VGA/EGA. However, if your PC has a CGA (Color Graphics Adapter) or MCA (Monochrome Graphics Adapter) card in it, the display should reflect that.
Serial ports Each serial port detected on the PC is assigned certain system resources, including IRQ (interrupt request) and 1/0 (lnput/Output) port
addresses . The display shows the resources assigned to each serial port by the BIOS.
Parallel ports The system resources assigned to parallel ports by the BIOS is displayed.
Plug and Play devices If any Plug and Play (PnP) adapter cards are detected by the BIOS, their information is displayed.
