title: How does the OS detect hardware?
body: <p>Does the OS get this information from the BIOS or does it scan the buses on its own to detect what hardware is installed on the system. Having looked around online different sources say different things. Some saying the BIOS detects the hardware and then stores it in memory which the OS then reads, others saying the OS scans buses (e.g pci) to learn of the hardware.</p>
  
  <p>I would have thought with modern OSs it would ignore the BIOS and do it itself.</p>
  
  <p>Any help would be appreciated.</p>
  
  <p>Thanks.</p>