Holding down the key while booting prints a detailed BIOS ID at the bottom of the POST screen, as follows: 51-0421-001437-00101111-071595-M571-007_66_M571-H 000-0-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-000 000-0-0000-00-00-0000-00-00-00-0-000000003FC91010 INT13-1.2 Cr-6.26.00 CPU-3.03 DIM-1.80 GPC-1.11 APM1.2-1.11 USB-1.02 IO-1.09 GPC = Green PC APM = Advanced Power Management, a legacy technology in personal computers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Power_Management INT13 = BIOS code for Low Level Disk Services http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/INT13 Cr = BIOS Version : 0626, AMIBIOS 062600 DIM = Device Initialization Manager The DIM gets control at various times during BIOS POST to initialize different system busses.