Get the inside scoop before deciding to fix or replace your BIOS
Whether a PC will boot up correctly next year depends on its basic I/O system, or BIOS. Each time a PC starts after a cold or warm boot, it checks the BIOS software stored in nonvolatile read-only memory. For faster booting, it might copy the BIOS information to RAM and work from the copy, but in any case the PC cannot communicate with its keyboard or drives until it
Whether a PC will boot up correctly next year depends on its basic I/O system, or Each time a PC starts after a cold or warm boot, it checks the BIOS software stored in An old computer with an unready BIOS might fail even to boot next year unless you If you happen to have a BIOS from Award Software International Inc., a company recently Some old Award BIOSes need only a one-time fix as described on the companys Web Note that this is specific timing and cannot be done just any old time. Phoenix Technologies Web site at Visit the Web site for readiness details on all PhoenixBIOS CBG 1.x versions released Note that even BIOSes with built-in automatic rollover may not have had that feature That covers most BIOSes that users are likely to encounter. Phoenix and Award between Now for the bad news. Individual PC makers might have modified some of the BIOS code Determine which BIOS version a PC has by watching the first or second screen at bootup. Dont forget to check old tape backup applications. They could wreak havoc in an John McCormick, a free-lance writer and computer consultant, has been working with
BIOS.
nonvolatile read-only memory. For faster booting, it might copy the BIOS information to
RAM and work from the copy, but in any case the PC cannot communicate with its keyboard or
drives until it has relearned from the BIOS what I/O devices are attached and how they
work.
replace the BIOS chip, which often causes other problems. A new PC with flash BIOS is
designed for electronic upgrades. Dont neglect to check this out even if the PC runs
supposedly 2000-ready Microsoft Windows 9x or Windows NT software.
acquired by Phoenix Technologies Inc. of San Jose, Calif., check whether it is Version
4.05. Awards Web site at www.award.com doesnt specify the version number but
advises replacing all Award BIOS chips released between April 26, 1994, and May 31, 1995.
site. If the BIOS dates from before April 26, 1994, reset the system clock by turning the
PC off before midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, turning it back on again after midnight and
correcting the system date in Microsoft Windows Setup.
www.phoenix.com/support/y2k.html#ComplianceStatement claims that the companys
PhoenixBIOS 4.0 releases dated after 1992 are readyif you manually roll over the
date. The same holds for NoteBIOS, Phoenix PicoBIOS and ServerBIOS. Then the picture gets
complicated.
between 1989 and 1994 and on ROM BIOS Plus, released from 1986 through 1992.
Phoenixs QuadtelBIOS 3.0x is year 2000-ready.
activated by the PC maker, so be prepared to manually advance the date to 2000 next year.
them have supplied most motherboard manufacturers.
they purchased, or not have activated all the features. Whether and how your particular
system changes the year automatically depends on whether it is running at midnight,
according to its system clock, as well as exactly which BIOS version it has. Identical
computers in the same office could react differently depending on whether they are on at
midnight and whether they have precisely the same BIOS version implemented in precisely
the same way.
You can download BIOS test software from www.pc.ibm.com/year2000/evaluation.html;
www.unicore.com/milproch.html; www.firmware.com/;
and www.nstl.com/.
office even if nothing else fouls up the PC dates. Check your vendors Web site for
patches.
computers since the early 1960s. E-mail him at powerusr@penn.com.