BIOS stands for Built In Operating System, and it's basically all your computer knows when you first power the machine on. It is located in FlashROM or EEPROM, an erasable, upgradable small area of memory outside of your system's memory. It provides critical boot-up information like what drives are available, if your soundcard, networking, USB, printer ports, etc. The BIOS basically tells your computer what it needs to know to and how to start booting the machine.

How to get into the BIOS settings depends on your computer or motherboard manufacturer. Typically, it will display a message at the very start of bootup specifying which button to press to get into the BIOS. You can also press the ESC key at the very first screen to skip the Dell, HP, or whatever logo your computer's manufacturer puts on the screen, and it will reveal the screen which tells you your system information and how to get into the BIOS settings.

Typically, when the first screen appears, you press either DEL, F1, or F2 to get into the BIOS. There is only a 1-3 second window of opportunity to press this screen, for when the Windows bootup screen comes on, it's too late, you must boot Windows and then restart and try again. If these keys don't work, you may need to contact your computer's manufacturer to find the secret of getting into the BIOS.