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DADDY BOB'S COMPUTER Q & A
June 24,
2007
Q.
How can I tell what version of DirectX
I have installed?
A.
First, a brief explanation of what DirectX
is, It is defined as:
"Microsoft DirectX is a collection of
application programming interfaces for
handling tasks related to multimedia,
especially game programming and video, on
Microsoft platforms."
You
should have DirectX V9 if you are using
Windows XP with SP2, with all currently
available updates and DirectX 10 if running
Vista.
To check
for sure, click Start, then Run and enter
dxdiag and click OK. If you get a message
about checking the driver signatures, click
NO. When the dialog opens, click the System
tab, and look at the last item listed in the
list. It will be your version of DirectX.
If you
don't have the the DirectX runtime V9, you
can download it
HERE.
Q.
What is the BIOS?
A. BIOS, in computing,
stands for Basic Input/Output System also
incorrectly known as Basic Integrated
Operating System and occasionally Built In
Operating System. BIOS refers to the ROM
code run by an IBM compatible PC when first
turned on. It sets up the computer to be
able to use the other hardware necessary for
the computer to function.
The
BIOS is what is was originally responsible
for allowing the PC to use a varied array of
different hardware components, and what
really made the PC business take off.
The BIOS runs off an EPROM
chip when the computer is powered on. It
initializes several motherboard components
and peripherals, including.......
The
system clock
The
CPU and caches or buffers
The
memory and I/O controller
The
RAM
All
PCI devices
The
video controller
The hard drives
The keyboard and mouse
Finally, it loads the
operating system and transfers control to
it. The entire process is known as Power-on
self-test (POST). On the original IBM PC,
the hardware only needed minimal
configuration and POST was indeed used for
testing; on modern systems, most of POST
actually consists of hardware configuration.
Older operating systems such
as DOS relied on the BIOS to do most
input-output duties within the PC. A variety
of technical reasons eventually made this
inefficient. Recent operating systems like Windows handle most of these functions
themselves.
Windows uses its own
better-performing native drivers and is with
it, it is much easier to support new
hardware as it arrives. Therefore, the
modern BIOS is pretty much relegated to just
getting things started to the point where
the operating system's own drivers could
take control.
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