A computer system has a centralized configuration control point. Preferably, this control point is a ROM-based setup utility ("RBSU") which permits various aspects of the computer system to configured such as system passwords, serial ports, parallel ports, and the like. The RBSU also permits an operator to configure various option device and subsystems, such as PCI devices. When such an option device is selected to be configured, the RBSU code searches option ROM space for one or more predefined signature values. Such a signature, which preferably comprises an eight byte value, signifies the beginning of a table of information which the RBSU code uses to determine the location of the beginning of the option ROM routine through which the corresponding option device can be configured. Once the option device is configured, control returns to the RBSU code. In this way, the operator can configure the computer system and the option devices from a single software control system.