Questions and answers

1.How can the BIOS settings be restored (returned to factory settings)?

IMPORTANT: Restore defaults does not securely erase any data on your hard drive. See question and answer 6 for steps to securely erase data.

Restore defaults does not reset the Custom Secure Boot keys. See question and answer 7 for information about resetting the keys.

a.Turn on or restart the computer, and then press esc while the "Press the ESC key for Startup Menu" message is displayed at the bottom of the screen.

b.Select Main, and then select Restore defaults.

c.Follow the on-screen instructions.

d.Select Main, select Save Changes and Exit, and then follow the on-screen instructions.

2.What is a UEFI BIOS, and how is it different from a legacy BIOS?

The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) BIOS is an industry-standard software interface between the platform firmware and an operating system (OS). It is a replacement for the older BIOS architecture, but supports much of the legacy BIOS functionality.

Like the legacy BIOS, the UEFI BIOS provides an interface to display the system information and configuration settings and to change the configuration of your computer before an OS is loaded. BIOS provides a secure run-time environment that supports a Graphic User Interface (GUI). In this environment, you can use either a pointing device (Touchscreen, TouchPad, pointing stick, or USB mouse) or the keyboard to navigate and make menu and configuration selections. The UEFI BIOS also contains basic system diagnostics.

The UEFI BIOS provides functionality beyond that of the legacy BIOS. In addition, the UEFI BIOS works to initialize the computer’s hardware before loading and executing the OS; the run-time environment allows the loading and execution of software programs from storage devices to provide more functionality, such as advanced hardware diagnostics (with the ability to display more detailed system information) and advanced firmware management and recovery software.

HP has provided options in Computer Setup (BIOS) to allow you to run in legacy BIOS, if required by the operating system. Examples of this requirement would be if you upgrade or downgrade the OS.

3.Where does the UEFI BIOS reside?

The UEFI BIOS resides on a flash memory chip. A utility is required to write to the chip.

4.What kind of configuration data is stored on the DIMM Serial Presence Detect (SPD) memory module? How would this data be written?

The DIMM SPD memory contains information about the memory module, such as size, serial number, data width, speed/timing, voltage, and thermal information. This information is written by the module manufacturer and stored on an EEPROM. This EEPROM cannot be written to when the memory module is installed in a PC. Third-party tools do exist that can write to the EEPROM when the memory module is not installed in a PC. Various third-party tools are available to read SPD memory.

5.What is meant by “Restore the nonvolatile memory found in Intel-based system boards”?

This message relates to clearing the Real Time Clock (RTC) CMOS memory that contains PC configuration data.

6.How can the BIOS security be reset to factory defaults and data erased?

80 Chapter 10 Statement of memory volatility