Bios...

Does anyone know where there is a proper beginners guid to editing the BIOS?

I mean like `BIOS for dummies` !!

I have read I can dramatically speed up my computer this way?

 

I'm assuming you read about Overclocking your CPU and RAM through the BIOS. Thats the only way I could imagine any dramatic speedup. Keep in mind, doing so is potentially dangerous to all of the hardware in your system, and creates extra heat. Be SURE you know the consequences of Overclocking before you venture out and start playing . Here is a guide Written by our very own ACE256 http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=52812 , thats a start to what you're looking for I believe

 

I don't know about dummies, as even changing one item in the Bios can upset your system.
If you really want to mess with it, here's a starting point - but at your own risk - not recommended, unless you are a Real Geek, and can afford the consequences.
http://www.geocities.com/mamanzip/

 

I agree with In Years To Come, go for very soft overclocking , and if In Years To Come, can advise you on some, follow his advice .

 

I am just having a good read of ACE256`s guide now and taking some notes. I am going to read this and check out that other link before deciding what to do.

I am getting some new memory very soon(1-2 weeks), If I do decide to go ahead with changing things, would you advise to wait for my new memory or wont it make a difference? I mean, if I alter memory settings will it work as well with a different sized memory module?

I know I probably sound dumb! Please be patient with me!

 

Second thoughts, I think this is way too technical for me at the moment. Plus Im on a crappy laptop and it gets upto 50degrees as it is! Are the programs in that guide easy to use? Do they do the hard work for you?

 

Don't run before you can walk, - cleaning out old programs, emptying cache, and temporary files, and defragging will help improve things, and sometimes surprisingly, WITHOUT chancing the scrapheap for your Laptop.

 

I do all that maintainence, I think I will stick to that as you suggest. And hopefully my more memory should give this snail a kick up the butt. If its still crappy then I might just buy a better desktop and let the missus have this!

Thanks for the advice and maybe sometime in the future when I am a bit wiser I will join the Overclockers Gang! lol!

 

More memory will help most pc's

 

Curious, what kind of laptop (sepcifically, which CPU) do you have? We can let you know if a small overclock is easy or common, as some CPU's respond much better than others.

 

I would change the BIOS if I knew exactly what to do and what values to set it at but all the jargon had my head in a spin before! As this is my only PC at the moment I dont want to have nothing to fall back on!

Advent 7094,Celeron M 1.5ghz
256mb DDR Ram,
SiS661gx Mirage Graphics (64mb shared),
AC97 Audio,
40gb HDD

It will soon have 1gb Ram

Let me know what you think about overclocking. I know its a bit crappy to star with though!

 

The Celeron M is a great overclocker actually, better than the Pentium M. It may not be so easy to do so in a laptop, however. You'll likely need a program like Clockgen, as i'm guessing the overclocking options in your BIOS are locked by the manufacturer. Clockgen should allow you to overclock through Windows. I have not used Clockgen, however, so that venue is yours to read up on and explore

Apparently, you shoule be able to reach around 2.0ghz with that processor with very minor changes to voltage (read: little or no increase in heat.) So this could be a good thing to look into if you feel comfortable.

 

Thanks for the reply InYearsToCome

All I know about my BIOS is that it is AmericanMegatrends. I might re-post in the overclocking section and ask for advice there about this, I could do with asking someone to help me step by step. At my own risk of course.

When you say read: where from? I dont really feel comfortable but I look at things as you will never know unless you try. If someone will advise me what to do I may consider this, 2ghz sounds nice to me!

 

Another bios guide/link:

http://burks.bton.ac.uk/burks/pcinfo/hardware/bios_sg/advcmos.htm

 

I see you are determined to learn, but read a lot, think a lot, and see what others have done before actually trying it .

Clockgen :
http://www.cpuid.com/clockgen.php

 

Thanks for the advice all you guys.
I have posted in overclocking now as it seems that is a better place for this?