Things got heated up quite a bit in the past two days as Microsoft started to reveal information about boot security in Windows 8. The main concern raised by Matthew Garrett and others was that secure boot could prevent the installation and use of third party operating systems like Linux on an OEM system running [...]

Categories: Windows

Our computers get worked over pretty hard. We run them nonstop all day, pulling up a dozen different windows with ten different operations going on in each. When we go to sleep many of us leave our machines running, partially because we think we may return to it later and half because we are just [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

Part of a computer’s boot process is the Power On Self Test (POST) that tests the hardware of the computer. POST communicates successful or failed tests with beep codes. These BIOS beep codes provide the user with information about the system’s state and aid in the troubleshooting process in case one of the boot tests [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

The onboard LAN of my Gigabyte ep35-ds4 motherboard died just a few hours ago. Was surfing the Internet and suddenly connection errors showed up. That’s bad as the onboard LAN is located on the motherboard of the computer system. It could be that not only the LAN died but also other components. Now what can [...]

Categories: Hardware

Many users shy away from updating the computer bios of their motherboard probably because of the fear of damaging the motherboard irreparably. Methods have evolved in the last years and it is easier and safer to update the bios than it was five years ago. The following article explains an easy and straightforward way of [...]

Categories: Hardware, Knowledge

Password protecting the Bios is considered a weak protection, something that professionals can find out or reset in no time. Besides the obvious possibilities to set a jumper or remove the bios battery to reset the bios password it is also possible to reveal or reset the bios password by using a software like CmosPwd [...]

Categories: Linux, Software, Windows

UEFI which is an acronym for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface which will eventually replace the 20+ year old Bios. The new standard is backed by everyone so to speak including Intel, AMD, Microsoft, IBM, American Megatrends, Phoenix Technologies and Apple.

Categories: Hardware, Operating Systems, Windows

A friend of mine was recently asking me if I knew how to find out which BIOS was installed in his computer. He wanted to know for two reasons. The first was that he could not remember and was not able to figure out on his own. He did want to buy a better CPU and had to know which were supported by his motherboard and BIOS.

Categories: Operating Systems, Windows

The bios can be protected with a password to prevent others from accessing its settings. You have to enter the password to be able to access it, if you can’t provide the correct one the access gets denied. The following method describes a way to recover the password if you forgot it or bought a used computer with a bios password.

Categories: Hacking, Hardware