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- DOCUMENT:Q92766 24-SEP-1993 [W_NT]
- TITLE :ROM BIOS Shadowing Not an Advantage with Windows NT
- PRODUCT :Windows NT
- PROD/VER:3.10
- OPER/SYS:WINDOWS
- KEYWORDS:
-
- -------------------------------------------------------------
- The information in this article applies to:
-
- - Microsoft Windows NT operating system version 3.1
- -------------------------------------------------------------
-
- Summary:
-
- Some machines provide the ROM BIOS shadowing option. While this
- feature provides an advantage with Microsoft MS-DOS, it is not an
- advantage with Microsoft Windows NT.
-
- ROM BIOS shadowing is the process of copying the BIOS from ROM into
- RAM and using either hardware or 386 enhanced mode to remap the RAM
- into the normal address space of the BIOS. Because reading RAM is much
- faster than reading ROM, BIOS-intensive operations are substantially
- faster. For example, MS-DOS uses the BIOS to write to the screen;
- therefore, with ROM BIOS shadowing, directory listings run more
- quickly.
-
- Windows NT does not use the BIOS (except during startup); therefore,
- no performance is gained by shadowing. If ROM BIOS shadowing is not
- used, more RAM is available. With Windows NT, there is an advantage to
- disabling the ROM BIOS shadowing option.
-
- More Information:
-
- This applies to other BIOS shadowing schemes as well. Typically the
- CMOS settings allow the system to shadow any BIOS. This includes the
- following:
-
- System BIOS
- Video BIOS
- Other adapters ROM BIOS (in a given select range)
-
- Additional reference words: 3.10 win32 winset
- KBCategory:
- KBSubCategory: PERTUNE
-
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- Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.