Press Del for Setup

When a computer is powered on, it begins executing a program called a BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). This program performs the initial testing and initialization of the hardware and begins the process of loading the operating system. While the operating system is loading itself, the BIOS provides basic operations to communicate with the hardware of the computer. During the days of MS-DOS, the BIOS played a very important role providing all the device driver support to the operating system (if you can call MS-DOS an operating system), but I suspect that the BIOS gets very little use these days once the operating system is running. The BIOS may be stored in Read Only Memory (ROM) and in that case the BIOS can only be updated by replacing a memory chip. But it is also common that the BIOS is stored in an erasable read only memory called CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). A BIOS stored in this way can be easily replaced later using software, usually while the operating system is running.

It is not uncommon for the BIOS allow the user to configure the computer in very basic ways, storing the configuration settings in CMOS (or Flash) for the BIOS to use during boot. The configuring of these setting falls to a program usually called Setup. And it can be invoked during the boot process in place of booting the operating system. Asking the BIOS to run Setup usually involves pressing a particular key on the keyboard during the power on tests. On the Gigabyte board, this key is the Delete key.

Unlike the DELL systems where you have to guess when it is appropriate to press DEL (Cute right?), the Gigabyte motherboard gives a helpful message, but be ready for it. It doesn't stay up for very long.

Normally I pay very little attention to the BIOS settings on my computers, but leafing through the documentation that Gigabyte provides, it is clear that there are some settings that are helpful for HTPC machines, so I made them. Most of these changes are not critical, but I suspect that the setting of the power button not to actually cut power unless it has been held for 4 seconds (the Soft off by power button setting) is pretty desirable. It is debatable that having the CD-ROM as the first book device is a good idea. There is something to be said for having this be a USB drive. There are a number of USB boot devices to chose from, but I wasn't sure which one is a USB Drive, probably USB-HDD.

Finally, there is the Away Mode setting. This looked like a good setting, but when I enabled it, but after I installed Vista I that said that the Away Mode support is incompatible with at 64-bit operating system. Apparently the Gigabyte Motherboard Drivers installs a driver for the Away Mode, but it is not a 64-bit driver and therefore 64-bit Vista won't use it. I set it originally, but I came back later and disabled it.

1. During the power on tests, when you see a message about press the Delete key, press it to start Setup.
   
2. Using the arrow keys, press the down arrow key until Standard CMOS Features is highlighted and press Enter.
   
3. Set the Date.
   
4. Set the Time.
   
5. Down arrow to select the Drive A field and press Enter. Use the arrow keys to select None and press Enter.
   
6. Press Escape.
   
7. Select Advanced BIOS Features and press Enter.
   
8. Select Onboard VGA output connect and press Enter. Select D-SUB/HDMI and press Enter.
   
9. Select Init Display First and press Enter. Select OnChipVGA and press Enter.
   
10. Select First Boot Device and press Enter. Select CDROM and press Enter.
    
11. Select Third Boot Device and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter.
    
12. Select Away Mode and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter.
    
13. Press Escape.
    
14. Select Integrated Peripherals.
    
15. Select Onboard Serial Port 1 and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter.
    
16. Select Onboard Parallel Port and press Enter. Select Disabled and press Enter.
    
17. Press Escape.
    
18. Select Power Management Setup and press Enter.
    
19. Select Soft-Off by Power button and press Enter. Select Delay 4 Sec and press Enter.
    
20. Select AC Back Function and press Enter. Select Full-On and press Enter.
    
21. Press Escape.
    
22. Press F10. To SAVE to CMOS and EXIT (Y/N)? Y message box, press Enter.
    
23. The system will save the new settings and begin to reboot.

Since there isn't an operating system installed, there's not much point in proceeding, but before we install the OS, power down the machine let's put some finishing touches inside the case.