The BIOS is located on a chip on the motherboard and initializes hardware at startup. It detects components and checks for errors using POST codes. The BIOS is stored in ROM and cannot be changed by users. To enter the BIOS setup utility, the user presses keys like Delete, F1, or F10 during startup. Common BIOS manufacturers include Award, IBM, Intel, and AMI. The booting process involves powering on, POST to check hardware, and the BIOS loading the operating system if no errors occur. POST codes help diagnose issues and are displayed as beeps, numbers, or text messages corresponding to components like the motherboard, RAM, keyboard, or hardware in general.