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Win32_BIOS class

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The Win32_BIOS WMI class represents the attributes of the computer system's basic input/output services (BIOS) that are installed on a computer.

The following syntax is simplified from Managed Object Format (MOF) code and includes all of the inherited properties. Properties are listed in alphabetic order, not MOF order.

Syntax

[Dynamic, Provider("CIMWin32"), UUID("{8502C4E1-5FBB-11D2-AAC1-006008C78BC7}"), AMENDMENT]
class Win32_BIOS : CIM_BIOSElement
{
  uint16   BiosCharacteristics[];
  string   BIOSVersion[];
  string   BuildNumber;
  string   Caption;
  string   CodeSet;
  string   CurrentLanguage;
  string   Description;
  uint8    EmbeddedControllerMajorVersion;
  uint8    EmbeddedControllerMinorVersion;
  string   IdentificationCode;
  uint16   InstallableLanguages;
  datetime InstallDate;
  string   LanguageEdition;
  String   ListOfLanguages[];
  string   Manufacturer;
  string   Name;
  string   OtherTargetOS;
  boolean  PrimaryBIOS;
  datetime ReleaseDate;
  string   SerialNumber;
  string   SMBIOSBIOSVersion;
  uint16   SMBIOSMajorVersion;
  uint16   SMBIOSMinorVersion;
  boolean  SMBIOSPresent;
  string   SoftwareElementID;
  uint16   SoftwareElementState;
  string   Status;
  uint8    SystemBiosMajorVersion;
  uint8    SystemBiosMinorVersion;
  uint16   TargetOperatingSystem;
  string   Version;
};

Members

The Win32_BIOS class has these types of members:

Properties

The Win32_BIOS class has these properties.

BiosCharacteristics

Data type: uint16 array

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|BIOS Characteristics")

Array of BIOS characteristics supported by the system as defined by the System Management BIOS Reference Specification.

This value comes from the BIOS Characteristics member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

The possible values are.

Reserved (0)

Reserved (1)

Unknown (2)

BIOS Characteristics Not Supported (3)

ISA is supported (4)

MCA is supported (5)

EISA is supported (6)

PCI is supported (7)

PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported (8)

Plug and Play is supported (9)

APM is supported (10)

BIOS is Upgradeable (Flash) (11)

BIOS is Upgradable (Flash)

BIOS shadowing is allowed (12)

VL-VESA is supported (13)

ESCD support is available (14)

Boot from CD is supported (15)

Selectable Boot is supported (16)

BIOS ROM is socketed (17)

Boot From PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported (18)

EDD (Enhanced Disk Drive) Specification is supported (19)

Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for NEC 9800 1.2mb (3.5\", 1k Bytes/Sector, 360 RPM) is supported (20)

Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for NEC 9800 1.2mb (3.5, 1k Bytes/Sector, 360 RPM) is supported

Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for Toshiba 1.2mb (3.5\", 360 RPM) is supported (21)

Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for Toshiba 1.2mb (3.5, 360 RPM) is supported

Int 13h - 5.25\" / 360 KB Floppy Services are supported (22)

Int 13h - 5.25 / 360 KB Floppy Services are supported

Int 13h - 5.25\" /1.2MB Floppy Services are supported (23)

Int 13h - 5.25 /1.2MB Floppy Services are supported

Int 13h - 3.5\" / 720 KB Floppy Services are supported (24)

Int 13h - 3.5 / 720 KB Floppy Services are supported

Int 13h - 3.5\" / 2.88 MB Floppy Services are supported (25)

Int 13h - 3.5 / 2.88 MB Floppy Services are supported

Int 5h, Print Screen Service is supported (26)

Int 9h, 8042 Keyboard services are supported (27)

Int 14h, Serial Services are supported (28)

Int 17h, printer services are supported (29)

Int 10h, CGA/Mono Video Services are supported (30)

NEC PC-98 (31)

ACPI supported (32)

ACPI is supported

USB Legacy is supported (33)

AGP is supported (34)

I2O boot is supported (35)

LS-120 boot is supported (36)

ATAPI ZIP Drive boot is supported (37)

1394 boot is supported (38)

Smart Battery supported (39)

Smart Battery is supported

40 47

Reserved for BIOS vendor

48 63

Reserved for system vendor

BIOSVersion

Data type: string array

Access type: Read-only

Array of the complete system BIOS information. In many computers there can be several version strings that are stored in the registry and represent the system BIOS information.

BuildNumber

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (64), Mappingstrings ("MIF.DMTF|Software Component Information|002.4")

Internal identifier for this compilation of this software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

Caption

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MaxLen (64), DisplayName ("Caption")

Short description of the object a one-line string.

This property is inherited from CIM_ManagedSystemElement.

CodeSet

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (64)

Code set used by this software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

CurrentLanguage

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 13|Current Language")

Name of the current BIOS language.

Description

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: DisplayName ("Description")

Description of the object.

This property is inherited from CIM_ManagedSystemElement.

EmbeddedControllerMajorVersion

Data type: uint8

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|Embedded Controller Firmware Major Release")

The major release of the embedded controller firmware.

This value comes from the Embedded Controller Firmware Major Release member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista: This property is not supported before Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

EmbeddedControllerMinorVersion

Data type: uint8

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|Embedded Controller Firmware Minor Release")

The minor release of the embedded controller firmware.

This value comes from the Embedded Controller Firmware Minor Release member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista: This property is not supported before Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

IdentificationCode

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (64), Mappingstrings ("MIF.DMTF|Software Component Information|002.7")

Manufacturer's identifier for this software element. Often this will be a stock keeping unit (SKU) or a part number.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

InstallableLanguages

Data type: uint16

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 13|Installable Languages")

Number of languages available for installation on this system. Language may determine properties such as the need for Unicode and bidirectional text.

InstallDate

Data type: datetime

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("MIF.DMTF|ComponentID|001.5"), DisplayName ("Install Date")

Date and time the object was installed. This property does not need a value to indicate that the object is installed.

This property is inherited from CIM_ManagedSystemElement.

LanguageEdition

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (32), Mappingstrings ("MIF.DMTF|Software Component Information|002.6")

Language edition of this software element. The language codes defined in ISO 639 should be used. Where the software element represents a multilingual or international version of a product, the string "multilingual" should be used.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

ListOfLanguages

Data type: String array

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 13|Language Strings")

Array of names of available BIOS-installable languages.

Manufacturer

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("MIF.DMTF|System BIOS|001.2")

Manufacturer of this software element.

This value comes from the Vendor member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

Name

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: key, maxlen (256)

Name used to identify this software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_ManagedSystemElement.

OtherTargetOS

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (64), ModelCorrespondence ("CIM_OperatingSystem.OtherTypeDescription")

Records the manufacturer and operating system type for a software element when the TargetOperatingSystem property has a value of 1 (Other). When TargetOperatingSystem has a value of 1, OtherTargetOS must have a nonnull value. For all other values of TargetOperatingSystem, OtherTargetOS is NULL.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

PrimaryBIOS

Data type: boolean

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("MIF.DMTF|System BIOS|001.9")

If TRUE, this is the primary BIOS of the computer system.

This property is inherited from CIM_BIOSElement.

ReleaseDate

Data type: datetime

Access type: Read-only

Release date of the Windows BIOS in the Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) format of YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.MMMMMM(+-)OOO.

This value comes from the BIOS Release Date member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

SerialNumber

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Maxlen (64), Mappingstrings ("MIF.DMTF|ComponentID|001.4")

Assigned serial number of the software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

SMBIOSBIOSVersion

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|BIOS Version")

BIOS version as reported by SMBIOS.

This value comes from the BIOS Version member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

SMBIOSMajorVersion

Data type: uint16

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|CSMBios|GetVersion")

Major SMBIOS version number. This property is NULL if SMBIOS is not found.

SMBIOSMinorVersion

Data type: uint16

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|CSMBios|GetVersion")

Minor SMBIOS version number. This property is NULL if SMBIOS is not found.

SMBIOSPresent

Data type: boolean

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|CSMBios|Init")

If true, the SMBIOS is available on this computer system.

SoftwareElementID

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: key, maxlen (256)

Identifier for this software element; designed to be used in conjunction with other keys to create a unique representation of this instance.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

SoftwareElementState

Data type: uint16

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: key

State of a software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

The possible values are.

Deployable (0)

Installable (1)

Executable (2)

Running (3)

Status

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MaxLen (10), DisplayName ("Status")

Current status of the object. Various operational and nonoperational statuses can be defined. Operational statuses include: "OK", "Degraded", and "Pred Fail" (an element, such as a SMART-enabled hard disk drive, may be functioning properly but predicting a failure in the near future). Nonoperational statuses include: "Error", "Starting", "Stopping", and "Service". The latter, "Service", could apply during mirror-resilvering of a disk, reload of a user permissions list, or other administrative work. Not all such work is online, yet the managed element is neither "OK" nor in one of the other states.

This property is inherited from CIM_ManagedSystemElement.

The possible values are.

OK ("OK")

Error ("Error")

Degraded ("Degraded")

Unknown ("Unknown")

Pred Fail ("Pred Fail")

Starting ("Starting")

Stopping ("Stopping")

Service ("Service")

Stressed ("Stressed")

NonRecover ("NonRecover")

No Contact ("No Contact")

Lost Comm ("Lost Comm")

SystemBiosMajorVersion

Data type: uint8

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|System BIOS Major Release")

The major release of the System BIOS.

This value comes from the System BIOS Major Release member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista: This property is not supported before Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

SystemBiosMinorVersion

Data type: uint8

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: MappingStrings ("SMBIOS|Type 0|System BIOS Minor Release")

The minor release of the System BIOS.

This value comes from the System BIOS Minor Release member of the BIOS Information structure in the SMBIOS information.

Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista: This property is not supported before Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016.

TargetOperatingSystem

Data type: uint16

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: key, Mappingstrings ("MIF.DMTF|Software Component Information|002.5"), ModelCorrespondence ("CIM_OperatingSystem.OSType")

Target operating system of the owning software element.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

The possible values are.

Unknown (0)

Other (1)

MACOS (2)

ATTUNIX (3)

DGUX (4)

DECNT (5)

Digital Unix (6)

OpenVMS (7)

HPUX (8)

AIX (9)

MVS (10)

OS400 (11)

OS/2 (12)

JavaVM (13)

MSDOS (14)

WIN3x (15)

WIN95 (16)

WIN98 (17)

WINNT (18)

WINCE (19)

NCR3000 (20)

NetWare (21)

OSF (22)

DC/OS (23)

Reliant UNIX (24)

SCO UnixWare (25)

SCO OpenServer (26)

Sequent (27)

IRIX (28)

Solaris (29)

SunOS (30)

U6000 (31)

ASERIES (32)

TandemNSK (33)

TandemNT (34)

BS2000 (35)

LINUX (36)

Lynx (37)

XENIX (38)

VM/ESA (39)

Interactive UNIX (40)

BSDUNIX (41)

FreeBSD (42)

NetBSD (43)

GNU Hurd (44)

OS9 (45)

MACH Kernel (46)

Inferno (47)

QNX (48)

EPOC (49)

IxWorks (50)

VxWorks (51)

MiNT (52)

BeOS (53)

HP MPE (54)

NextStep (55)

PalmPilot (56)

Rhapsody (57)

Windows 2000 (58)

Dedicated (59)

VSE (60)

TPF (61)

Version

Data type: string

Access type: Read-only

Qualifiers: Override ("Version"), Mappingstrings ("Win32Registry|HARDWARE\\Description\\System|SystemBiosVersion")

Version of the BIOS. This string is created by the BIOS manufacturer.

This property is inherited from CIM_SoftwareElement.

Remarks

The Win32_BIOS class is derived from CIM_BIOSElement.

The properties in the Win32_BIOS class may change for a specific computer system with the same BIOS, for example booting through a legacy BIOS mode vs. booting through UEFI BIOS mode. However the properties retrieved from the SMBIOS structures should remain the same.

Examples

The following PowerShell code sample uses Win32_BIOS to return characteristics of the BIOS

# wmi-win32_bios.ps1
# Demonstrates use of Win32_Bios WMI class
# Thomas Lee - tfl@psp.co.uk



# Helper function to return characterics of the BIOS
function get-WmiBiosCharacteristics {
param ([uint16] $char)

# parse and return values

If ($char -le 39) {

switch ($char) {
0   {"00-Reserved"}
1   {"01-Reserved"}
2   {"02-Unknown"}
3   {"03-BIOS Characteristics Not Supported"}
4   {"04-ISA is supported"}
5   {"05-MCA is supported"}
6   {"06-EISA is supported"}
7   {"07-PCI is supported"}
8   {"08-PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported"}
9   {"09-Plug and Play is supported"}
10  {"10-APM is supported"}
11  {"11-BIOS is Upgradable (Flash)"}
12  {"12-BIOS shadowing is allowed"}
13  {"13-VL-VESA is supported"}
14  {"14-ESCD support is available"}
15  {"15-Boot from CD is supported"}
16  {"16-Selectable Boot is supported"}
17  {"17-BIOS ROM is socketed"}
18  {"18-Boot From PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported"}
19  {"19-EDD (Enhanced Disk Drive) Specification is supported"}
20  {"20-Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for NEC 9800 1.2mb (3.5, 1k Bytes/Sector, 360 RPM) is supported"}
21  {"21-Int 13h - Japanese Floppy for Toshiba 1.2mb (3.5, 360 RPM) is supported"}
22  {"22-Int 13h - 5.25 / 360 KB Floppy Services are supported"}
23  {"23-Int 13h - 5.25 /1.2MB Floppy Services are supported"}
24  {"24-Int 13h - 3.5 / 720 KB Floppy Services are supported"}
25  {"25-Int 13h - 3.5 / 2.88 MB Floppy Services are supported"}
26  {"26-Int 5h, Print Screen Service is supported"}
27  {"27-Int 9h, 8042 Keyboard services are supported"}
28  {"28-Int 14h, Serial Services are supported"}
29  {"29-Int 17h, printer services are supported"}
30  {"30-Int 10h, CGA/Mono Video Services are supported"}
31  {"31-NEC PC-98"}
32  {"32-ACPI supported"}
33  {"33-USB Legacy is supported"}
34  {"34-AGP is supported"}
35  {"35-I2O boot is supported"}
36  {"36-LS-120 boot is supported"}
37  {"37-ATAPI ZIP Drive boot is supported"}
38  {"38-1394 boot is supported"}
39  {"39-Smart Battery supported"}
}
Return
}

If ($char -ge 40 -and $char -le 45) {
          "{0}-Reserved for BIOS vendor" -f $char
return
}

If ($char -ge 48 -and $char -le 63) {
           "{0}-Reserved for system vendor" -f $char
return
}
"{0}-Unknown Value " -f $char
}

# Get BIOS information from WMI
$bios = Get-WMIObject Win32_Bios

# Display BIOS Details
"Win32_Bios WMI Information"
"Bios Characteristics"
foreach ($ch in $bios.BiosCharacteristics) {
"                      :  {0}" -f  (Get-WmiBiosCharacteristics($ch))
} 
"Bios Version          :  {0}" -f $bios.BiosVersion
"Codeset               :  {0}" -f $bios.Codeset
"CurrentLanguage       :  {0}" -f $bios.CurrentLanguage
"Description           :  {0}" -f $bios.Description
"IdentificatonCode     :  {0}" -f $bios.IdentificatonCode
"InstallableLanguages  :  {0}" -f $bios.InstallableLanguages
"InstallDate           :  {0}" -f $bios.InstallDate 
"LanguageEdition       :  {0}" -f $bios.LanguageEdition
"ListOfLanguages       :  {0}" -f $bios.ListOfLanguages
"Manufacturer          :  {0}" -f $bios.Manufacturer
"OtherTargetOS         :  {0}" -f $bios.OtherTargetOS
"PrimaryBIOS           :  {0}" -f $bios.PrimaryBIOS
"ReleaseDate           :  {0}" -f $bios.ReleaseDate
"SerialNumber          :  {0}" -f $bios.SerialNumber
"SMBIOSBIOSVersion     :  {0}" -f $bios.SMBIOSBIOSVersion
"SMBIOSMajorVersion    :  {0}" -f $bios.SMBIOSMajorVersion
"SMBIOSMinorVersion    :  {0}" -f $bios.SMBIOSMinorVersion
"SoftwareElementID     :  {0}" -f $bios.SoftwareElementID 
"SoftwareElementState  :  {0}" -f $bios.SoftwareElementState
"TargetOperatingSystem :  {0}" -f $bios.TargetOperatingSystem
"Version               :  {0}" -f $bios.Version

The previous code sample returns the following information:

Win32_Bios WMI Information
Bios Characteristics
                      :  04-ISA is supported
                      :  07-PCI is supported
                      :  08-PC Card (PCMCIA) is supported
                      :  09-Plug and Play is supported
                      :  11-BIOS is Upgradable (Flash)
                      :  12-BIOS shadowing is allowed
                      :  15-Boot from CD is supported
                      :  16-Selectable Boot is supported
                      :  24-Int 13h - 3.5 / 720 KB Floppy Services are supported
                      :  26-Int 5h, Print Screen Service is supported
                      :  27-Int 9h, 8042 Keyboard services are supported
                      :  28-Int 14h, Serial Services are supported
                      :  29-Int 17h, printer services are supported
                      :  30-Int 10h, CGA/Mono Video Services are supported
                      :  32-ACPI supported
                      :  33-USB Legacy is supported
                      :  34-AGP is supported
                      :  39-Smart Battery supported
                      :  40-Reserved for BIOS vendor
                      :  41-Reserved for BIOS vendor
                      :  42-Reserved for BIOS vendor
                      :  58-Reserved for system vendor
                      :  74-Unknown Value
Bios Version          :  DELL   - 27d60a0d
Codeset               :
CurrentLanguage       :  en|US|iso8859-1
Description           :  Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A04
IdentificatonCode     :
InstallableLanguages  :  1
InstallDate           :
LanguageEdition       :
ListOfLanguages       :  en|US|iso8859-1
Manufacturer          :  Dell Inc.
OtherTargetOS         :
PrimaryBIOS           :  True
ReleaseDate           :  20061013000000.000000+000
SerialNumber          :  DDC2H2J
SMBIOSBIOSVersion     :  A04
SMBIOSMajorVersion    :  2
SMBIOSMinorVersion    :  4
SoftwareElementID     :  Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A04
SoftwareElementState  :  3
TargetOperatingSystem :  0
Version               :  DELL   - 27d60a0d

Requirements

Requirement Value
Minimum supported client
 Windows Vista
Minimum supported server
 Windows Server 2008
Namespace
 Root\CIMV2
MOF
CIMWin32.mof
DLL
CIMWin32.dll

See also

CIM_BIOSElement

Computer System Hardware Classes