A computer's motherboard is the main system board that all of the hardware devices, such as the CPU, RAM, hard drives and video cards connect to. While a computer's hard drive contains the main operating system, the motherboard is loaded with simple software called the Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS, that loads before the main operating system loads. Your system's BIOS can affect how your system runs and impact various options such as power settings, fan speed and hard drive configuration, so it can be useful to identify the exact BIOS version you have installed.
Instructions
1. Restart your computer and pay close attention to the text that appears during startup. When your computer first boots, the BIOS loads before your computer operating system launches. For many computers, the BIOS will display text soon after booting, often in black and white, that indicates the BIOS software version.
2. Pull up your system information list. Click "Start," "All programs," "Accessories," "System Tools," "System Information." Your BIOS information will be listed in the window under "BIOS Version/Date."
3. Use the CPU-Z freeware tool to check your BIOS information. Go to the link under Resources, click one of the download links for the CPU-Z freeware tool listed as "no install," and double-click cpuz.exe when the download is complete. Click the "Main Board" tab; motherboard BIOS information will be listed in the middle of this tab under "BIOS."
Tags: BIOS information, operating system, your computer, BIOS information will, CPU-Z freeware