Peter, an expert computer user, attached a new sound card to his computer. He then restarts the computer, so that the BIOS can scan the hardware changes. What will be the memory range of ROM that…

During POST, the BIOS performs a scan of the memory range starting at C800h and ending around DFFFh looking for valid option ROM signatures (55h AAh). When an expansion card such as a sound card presents an option ROM in this range, the BIOS executes that code to initialize the device before handing control to the operating system. This reserved upper memory block is the industry-standard location for adapter firmware.

The range hCA79 to hAC20 is not a valid or recognized BIOS option ROM scan range and does not correspond to any standard memory map segment used during POST.

The range hAA43 to hF345 does not correspond to the conventional upper memory area reserved for expansion card option ROMs in the IBM PC-compatible BIOS memory map.

The range hDF80 to hFF80 overlaps into the area reserved for the BIOS ROM itself (E000h-FFFFh) rather than the option ROM expansion area, so it is not the region scanned for add-on card initialization code.