BIOSPCSystemen

BIOSPCSystemen is a term used to refer to personal computer systems whose startup process is governed by the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) firmware embedded on the motherboard. In such systems, the firmware resides in flash memory and is executed when power is applied, performing the Power-On Self-Test (POST) to check essential hardware, initialize devices, and provide low-level services to the operating system and bootloaders. The BIOS provides a set of interfaces and services that OSes can use during early boot, and offers the firmware routines used to access hardware at startup.

After initialization, the BIOS selects a boot device according to a configured priority and transfers control to a bootloader from the chosen device, which then loads the operating system. The BIOS also supports option ROMs on add-in cards and a setup utility accessed via a keystroke at boot time to configure hardware and boot order.

Historically, BIOSPCSystemen were dominant from the 1980s through the 2000s in IBM PC-compatible hardware. In recent years, they have largely been supplanted by Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), which offers a more modular architecture, larger boot volumes, faster startup, and improved security features such as Secure Boot.

Nevertheless, many BIOS-based systems remain in use, especially older hardware, embedded devices, and certain compatibility configurations, where legacy BIOS interfaces remain compatible with older operating systems and software. Security and maintenance concerns for BIOSPCSystemen include firmware updates to patch vulnerabilities, ensuring the correct boot order, and managing settings in the BIOS setup utility. As hardware evolves toward UEFI-based firmware, the term BIOSPCSystemen often shifts to describe the traditional firmware-based boot paradigm within PC ecosystems.