Power-On Self Test
POST is a program that is run every time the PC is turned on. Among other things, it sets up the video, counts the memory and, at its end, shows on the screen a configuration table containing a list of the system hardware configuration.
This program is stored inside the PC ROM memory, which is physically located on the motherboard. Inside this ROM memory chip there are also other two programs stored: BIOS and setup.
On the pictures below you can see some information that is printed on the screen during POST execution.
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Figure 1: Some information presented by POST.
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Figure 2: Hardware configuration summary presented at the end of POST.
