Tweaking Optimizing Windows.pdf - GEGeek

Boot other device
This feature determines whether the BIOS will attempt to load an operating system from the Second Boot Device or Third Boot
Device if it fails to load one from the First Boot Device. This feature is enabled by default and it is recommended that you leave it
as such. This will allow the BIOS to check the second and third boot devices for operating systems on failing to find one on the first
boot device. Otherwise, the BIOS will just halt the booting process with the error message No Operating System Found even if
there's an operating system on the second or third boot device.
Boot sequence
Common Options :
A, C, SCSI
C, A, SCSI
C, CD-ROM, A
CD-ROM, C, A
D, A, SCSI (only when you have at least 2 IDE hard disks)
E, A, SCSI (only when you have at least 3 IDE hard disks)
F, A, SCSI (only when you have 4 IDE hard disks)
SCSI, A, C
SCSI, C, A
A, SCSI, CLS/ZIP, C
This feature enables you to set the sequence in which the BIOS will search for an operating system during the boot-up process. To
ensure the shortest booting time possible, select the hard disk that contains your operating system as the first choice. Normally, this
would be drive C but if you are using a SCSI hard disk, then select SCSI. Some motherboards have a second IDE controller built-in.
In such motherboards, the SCSI option is replaced with an EXT option. This allows the computer to boot from an IDE hard disk
connected to the second IDE controller or from a SCSI hard disk. If you want to boot from an IDE hard disk running off the first IDE
controller, do not set the Boot Sequence to start with EXT. Please note that this feature works in conjunction with the Boot
Sequence EXT Means feature.
Boot sequence ext means
Common Options : IDE, SCSI
This feature will only have an effect if the EXT option had been selected in the Boot Sequence feature. This feature allows you to
control whether the system boots from an IDE hard disk that's connected to the second IDE controller found on some motherboards
or a SCSI hard disk. To boot from an IDE hard disk that's connected to the second IDE controller, you must first set the Boot
Sequence feature to start with the EXT option first. For example, the EXT, C, A setting. Then, you have to set this feature, Boot
Sequence EXT Means to IDE. In order to boot from a SCSI hard disk, set the Boot Sequence feature to start with the EXT option
first. For example, the EXT, C, A setting. Then, you have to set this feature, Boot Sequence EXT Means to SCSI.
Boot up floppy seek
This feature controls whether the BIOS checks for a floppy drive when the system boots up or not. If enabled, the BIOS will attempt
to initialize the floppy drive. If it cannot detect one (either due to improper configuration or physical inavailability), it will flash an
error message. However, the system will still be allowed to continue the boot process. If the floppy drive is present, the BIOS will
query the drive to find out if it supports 40 or 80 tracks operation. But since all floppy drives in use today only support 80 tracks
operation, this check is redundant. If this feature is disabled, the BIOS will skip the floppy drive check. This speeds up the booting
process by several seconds. Since the floppy drive check is essentially pointless, it is recommended that you disable this feature for
a faster booting process.
Boot up numlock status
This feature sets the input mode of the numeric keypad at boot up. If you turn this feature on, the numeric keypad will be set to
function in the numeric mode (for typing out numbers) when the system boots up. But if you set it to Off, it will function in the
cursor control mode (for controlling the cursor). The numeric keypad's input mode can be switched to either numeric or cursor
control mode at anytime after boot up. This feature merely sets the inital input mode of the keypad at boot up. The choice of inital
keypad input mode is entirely up to your preference.
First boot device
This feature allows you to select the first device from which the BIOS will attempt to load an operating system. If the BIOS finds
and loads an operating system from the device selected through this feature, it won't load another operating system, even if you
have one on a different device. For example, if you set Floppy as the first boot device, the BIOS will ignore the Windows XP
installation on your hard disk and load up the DOS 3.3 boot disk which you have placed in the floppy drive instead. In short, this
feature allows you to choose the first device to boot from. This is particularly useful when you need to load a boot disk for
troubleshooting purposes or for installing a new operating system.
By default, Floppy is the first boot device in practically all motherboards. But, unless you boot often from the floppy drive, it's better
to set your hard disk (usually HDD-0) as the first boot device. This will shorten the booting process because the BIOS no longer
needs to check the floppy drive for a bootable operating system. More importantly, doing so prevents the BIOS from loading the
wrong operating system in case you forgot to remove the boot disk from the floppy drive! This also indirectly prevents the loading
of any virus infected floppy disk that was left in the drive during booting. To install operating systems that come on bootable CD-
ROMs (i.e. Microsoft Windows XP) in a new hard disk, you will need to select CDROM as the first boot device. This enables you to
boot directly from the CD-ROM and load the operating system's installation routine.
Quick boot
This feature was designed to decrease the time it takes for you to boot up your system. But it's not the same as the Quick Power On
Self Test feature because it doesn't merely shorten or skip some system tests just to speed up boot time. It makes use of additional
techniques to further shorten the booting process. In fact, the Quick Power On Self Test should be considered as a subset of the
Quick Boot feature. In addition to skipping some tests and shortening the others, Quick Boot also performs the following techniques
to further speed up the booting process :-
Spin up the hard disks as soon as power is supplied (or as soon as possible)
Initialize only critical parts of the chipset