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UEFI

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UEFI

(Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) A standard programming interface for booting a computer. Governed by the UEFI Forum (www.uefi.org), it evolved from the EFI interface developed by Intel, first used in its Itanium line. Designed to replace the BIOS startup system, UEFI is also compatible with older BIOS-based machines.

PCs began shipping with UEFI in the mid-2000s, and Microsoft support began with the 64-bit versions of Windows Vista and Server 2008. Most Windows, Mac and Linux machines support UEFI, but all of its features may not be supported in all versions. For example, UEFI's secure boot, which prevents malware from infecting the code, did not appear in Windows until Windows 8 (see secure boot).

UEFI Is Software Based
UEFI resides in a folder in flash memory on the motherboard, storage drive or network drive. The U in UEFI (Unified) means any platform can be supported by recompiling the boot code, and the E (Extensible) means functions can be added and enhanced.

A Lower-Level Operating System
Residing between the computer's startup firmware and the OS, UEFI is able to perform diagnostics, authentication and encryption as well as detect malware. "UEFI BIOS" is often displayed at startup because people are familiar with the meaning of BIOS and still refer to UEFI as the BIOS. See BIOS.


BIOS and UEFI Components
The BIOS master boot record (MBR) and the UEFI GUID partition table (GPT) store the size of the partitions on the storage drive. Whereas MBR supports partitions up to 2.2TB, GPT partitions can be as large as 18 exabytes. See MBR and GPT.
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References in periodicals archive
ESET is the only major provider of endpoint security solutions to add a dedicated layer of protection, ESET UEFI Scanner, designed to detect malicious components in a PC's firmware.
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Intel had impressed us with its UEFI implementation in the last generation and it continues to impress this time as well.
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The UEFI specification supports a boot loader that is able to launch a wide variety of operating systems, said Andrew Sloss, senior principal engineer, ARM[R] and UEFI ARM Bindings Sub-Team leader.
UEFI TECHNOLOGY EXPANDS IN MOBILE DEVICES
As a potential replacement to the long-used BIOS firmware, UEFI is an industry initiative to secure computers against malware by designing the computer's firmware to require a trusted key before booting the operating system, or any hardware inside the computer, such as a graphics card.
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The motherboards have a dual UEFI 3D BIOS, which offers two modes of interface, a 3D mode and advanced mode.
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A new search shortcut to the UEFI lets users quickly find and modify specific settings without flipping through pages of menus.
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With its new layer of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) Scanner, included in all three products, levels of malware protection are enhanced by detecting threats that potentially launch before the operating system boots up.
ESET enhances consumer products portfolio
Exploring a successor to the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS)--the interface between computer hardware and the operating system--Zimmer, Rothman, and Marisetty introduce the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and Platform Initialization (PI).
Beyond BIOS: Developing With the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, 3rd Edition
To ensure that the CEM500 operates reliably and securely, hardware monitoring, TPM, Watchdog Timer and AMI uEFI BIOS with Intel[R] Active Management Technology 11.0 are supported.
Axiomtek's New High Performance COM Express Basic Type 6 Module - The CEM500
said it has introduced a new solution for its flagship Aptio[R] V UEFI Firmware that is compatible with the NIST SP 800-155 "BIOS Integrity Measurement Guidelines".
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Unified Extended Firmware Interface (UEFI) [33] provides specifications for boot loaders with the capability of launching various OS.
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