so you know that huge menu of options you can get to by pressing a key like
delete or F2 immediately after powering up your system it's called the BIOS and
we went into detail about what it actually is in this episode but the gist
of it is that it's the firmware that controls basic low-level essential
functions of your computer so that's cool um but how do you use it ah good
question today we're going to have a look at some of the more common settings
that both novices and veterans should be keeping their eyes on to keep their
systems running optimally we'll start with what's probably the first thing you
should look at if your computer isn't turning on correctly the boot priority
menu which is sometimes simply labeled as boot order you see when you boot up
your computer it will look for a drive with a boot loader typically paired with
an operating system on it typically this will mean a hard drive or SSD with
Windows on it or maybe Linux if you're hardcore but there are situations where
you might want to boot from a USB drive or even an optical disc to run system
repairs or some special application adjusting your boot priority so that the
media you want to load is listed first will allow you to boot from the location
that you want speaking of booting you might also see an option called secure
boot this is a newer feature designed to keep root kits which you can learn more
about up here from infecting your bootloader which can cause you problems
that your anti-malware software won't ever find you should usually keep this
turned on but if you need to load some operating system like Linux turning it
off might solve your problems if you're having them as secure boot can also keep
non- genuine Microsoft os's from working
and sticking with the booting up theme for just a little bit longer enabling a
setting called Fast boot or quick boot will cut down on Startup Times by
skipping error cheing but it may keep you from booting up properly if there is
a problem moving on if your computer has a feature that seems to just not work at
all there's a chance is simply disabled in the BIOS options like SATA hot
swapping for hard drives and ssds onboard audio Ethernet USB ports
specific PCI Express slots and even the
RGB bling built into your motherboard can all potentially be turned on or off
with a setting in the BIOS usually it's a good idea just to leave everything on
but turning these things off can be useful to prevent the system from
utilizing these built-in features if you have let's say a separate sound or
network card and you don't want extra options cluttering up your audio
settings menu which is very valid if you're rocking a slightly more advanced
setup though here are a few extra things to look out for make sure you find the
toggle under storage options that lets you select raid if you want to use
multiple drives as a single unit and an easy step to forget if you set it up
previously and you're recovering from a failed overclock or something like that
and you can't figure out why the heck it isn't working working I've been there
and if performance is what you're chasing most modern bioses allow you to
select an XMP profile from the menu this will quickly and easily get your high
performance RAM modules running at their advertised speed and timings if you're
overclocking look for options like eist
speed step or C States disabling these optimizations may help if you're having
a hard time hitting the clock speed you want though remember that not allowing
your CPU to throttle can can result in increased heat output and power
consumption of course if you want to learn more about changing these exact
settings that will overclock your CPU check out this episode finally let's
talk about security you've probably been using a Windows password but the BIOS
will allow you to set another password for an added layer of security as it
will ask for the separate password every time you try to enter the BIOS or boot
from any operating system definitely useful but remember that except in speci
cases these passwords are usually cleared by removing the Button cell
battery from the board and they don't keep an intruder from just opening up
your computer and walking off with your hard drive so are there other things
that you've seen in your BIOS that you feel a little clueless about let us know
in the comments and perhaps we'll cover them in a future episode but for now go
forth and tweak to your heart's content just try not to break
anything do you find yourself often trying to control two computers at at
once well Synergy is the solution for you Synergy is a software tool that
solves the problem of having two or more keyboards and mouse hooked into two or
more computers you see Synergy allows you to share just one mouse and keyboard
across multiple computers and multiple screens no more messing around with
different mice and keyboards and getting them confused you get either a basic or
Pro option with a onetime payment for Lifetime access to the ladder features
include clipboard sharing and drag and drop between computers custom hotkeys
and more Synergy is offering a 25%
discount to Techquickie viewers just click on the link in the video
description below to check it out thanks for watching guys if you like
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s super fun they have super cool stuff there I'll see you guys next time bye