What is the difference between bios and CMOS.

Asked By Emma Marie 10 points N/A Posted on - 01/24/2013

BIOS (basic input output system) and CMOS (complementary metal oxide semiconductor) both are located on motherboard. How can we identify that what is bios and what is CMOS.  

èIf both are chips then how can we identify them?

èThe setup which appears by pressing del/f2 at the time of pc start, what should we call it bios setup or CMOS setup. This setup is software.

èCMOS battery (lithium battery) provide power to update date and time when main supply off. It shows that CMOS is software. When we backup and restore bios this is also software.

èBios is ROM (read only memory) which cannot be changed. Ram and ROM both are memory type. If we accept this theory then bios is hardware chip.

I am so confused that what is exact difference between bios and CMOS . I need help of tech gurus for this, please helps me.

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Answered By Barbara Miller 0 points N/A #189420

What is the difference between bios and CMOS.

Hello Emma Marie

CMOS and BIOS linked very close. BIOS is the firmware where software instructions are permanently stored on a chip on your motherboard. The BIOS ensures and initiates the computer hardware every time the system turns on or restarts before giving the control to the operating system.

A computer can have a large range of configuration choices which include, CPU speed, bus settings etc. All of these settings are stored in the CMOS, which is a small part of RAM.

When a PC turns on, the BIOS code begins to execute and it has to read the content of the CMOS to discover how the computer is configured; the BIOS will not start the PC without validating CMOS contents.

I hope this information helped, please refer to the picture below for more understanding.

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Answered By Riley weaver 10 points N/A #189422

What is the difference between bios and CMOS.

Hi there,

Basic input output system (BIOS) is one of the most important part of a motherboard, because it contains all the information of the parts of a motherboard. This is the first software run in a computer and it determines the boot system of that PC. This is the basic work of BIOS.

Complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) is a battery and it usually used for containing the most significant information for startup the boot system. Usually about 512Kb is used to contain the basic boot information and that usually stored in CMOS battery.

Best regards,

Riley Weaver.

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• Posted on - 01/24/2013
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