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BIOS interrupt calls perform hardware control or I/O functions requested by a program, return system information to the program, or do both. A key element of the purpose of BIOS calls is abstraction - the BIOS calls perform generally defined functions, and the specific details of how those functions are executed on the particular hardware of the system are encapsulated in the BIOS and hidden ...
As a result, default mappings are sometimes wrong (i.e., not matching the labels shown on the keyboard) when using a recent USB Apple keyboard on an older version of Mac OS X, which doesn't know about the new function key mapping of this keyboard (e.g., because Mission control and Launchpad didn't exist at that time, the corresponding labels ...
A boot menu such as the textual menu of Windows, which allows users to choose an operating system to boot, to boot into the safe mode, or to use the last known good configuration, is displayed through BIOS and receives keyboard input through BIOS.
Restarting a computer also is called rebooting, which can be "hard", e.g. after electrical power to the CPU is switched from off to on, or "soft", where the power is not cut. On some systems, a soft boot may optionally clear RAM to zero. Both hard and soft booting can be initiated by hardware such as a button press or by a software command.
POST routines are part of a computer's pre-boot sequence. If they complete successfully, the bootstrap loader code is invoked to load an operating system . In IBM PC compatible computers, the main duties of POST are handled by the BIOS or UEFI .
Unlike Windows 9x and later NT releases, most of the essential computer peripherals are working normally, so the user can opt to restart instead of powering off their computer. The "It's now safe to power off the system" screen in Windows 10 and 11. Microsoft's Windows 98 was the first operating system to implement ACPI, [17] [18] but its ...
The scroll-lock key with an activated indicator light on an IBM Model M keyboard. Scroll Lock (⤓ or ⇳) is a lock key (typically with an associated status light) on most IBM-compatible computer keyboards. Depending on the operating system, it may be used for different purposes, and applications may assign functions to the key or change their ...
In computing, a keyboard shortcut (also hotkey/hot key or key binding) [1] is a software-based assignment of an action to one or more keys on a computer keyboard. Most operating systems and applications come with a default set of keyboard shortcuts , some of which may be modified by the user in the settings .