What is EEPROM?

EEPROM is an abbreviation for electrically deceiving programmable reading only memory and is pronounced double-ee-prom or e-e-prom . It is a long name for a small chip that holds the bits of data code that can be rewritten and erased by an electric charge, one byte at once. Its data cannot be selectively rewrite; The whole chip must be erased and rewritten to update its content.

While a random access memory (RAM) loses its data every time you turn on the computer, the EEPROM does not require a power source to maintain its data. For this reason, many BIOS chips are commonly used to store the system settings.

BIOS means the basic input/output system. When the computer is turned on, the BIOS Chip is performed by a program called CMOS (additional oxide metal oxide oxide) that holds the settings that allows the computer to recognize its hardware. Users can enter the CMOS program and edit the BIOS settings during the trigger program. Someone may have to do it, for example,when you need a new hard drive. After adjusting the settings, the BIOS saves a new copy of the EEPROM instructions.

With the advent of EEPROM, manufacturers could also update the BIOS program itself. In the past, this was not possible, and the outdated BIOS chip meant that it would have to replace the chip by getting a newer motherboard. The Chip BIOS, which is upgraded using this ability, is called flash bios because the Eeprom is updated using electric cartridges or flashes.

EEPROM is slower than RAM, but it is perfectly fine for applications such as setting the stored BIOS. It would not be selected for applications with the Dynamic Read/Write Requirements, as in the case of a digital camera, memory sticks or flash cards. For this purpose, a newer hybrid form is called Flash Memory. Flash memory varies in that its data can be selectively rewritten. It can also be deleted and rewrite blocks, rather than one bytesuddenly. This makes it much faster than Eeprom.

Newer Flash bios chips may or may not use flash memory rather than EEPROM. The BIOS is called Flash BIOS, because the memory used - in both cases - is reprogrammed by flashing the chip, one byte at once or in blocks.