BIOS UPGRADE Options

[tallin]

Hi all,

I was prowling around in Everest Home Edition. When I clicked on Motherboard/problems&suggestions I was asked two questions,

1) Are you looking for a BIOS upgrade?

2) Suggestion-your System BIOS it is more than 2 years old!

Then it gave me the following sites to upgrade.

http://www.esupport.com/region.cfm?referer...FTOKEN=36067967

http://www.esupport.com/global/

Could I have some expert help to either do this if it is necessary or stay as I am. I have no problems at all with my computer at this time. Below is what it exactly said in Everest Home edition.

Kind regards,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Field Value
BIOS Properties
BIOS Type Award Modular
Award BIOS Type Award Modular BIOS v6.0
Award BIOS Message ASUS P4S800MX ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
System BIOS Date 09/02/04
Video BIOS Date Unknown

BIOS Manufacturer
Company Name Phoenix Technologies Ltd.
Product Information http://www.phoenix.com/en/products/default.htm
BIOS Upgrades http://www.esupport.com/biosagent/index.cfm?refererid=40

Problems & Suggestions
Suggestion Are you looking for a BIOS Upgrade? Contact eSupport Today!
Suggestion System BIOS is more than 2 years old. Update it if necessary.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[Crow]

Well, first off, you need to boot to BIOS and write the number of the version of BIOS you have... then go to the manufacturer of your computers site (if you built it yourself, go to the manufacturer of the board you purchased's site). If you can not find the/a BIOS upgrade that matches exactly the numbers you have then should NOT attempt to do it. Flashing BIOS is a rather simple process that, if not done properly, could leave you with an over priced door stop.

As far as needing to update BIOS, if there is one available then I would do it. Just, as I mentioned, make sure you have the right update.

This post has been edited by Crow: Jan 14 2007, 12:15 AM

[tallin]

Your BIOS Agent Results:
BIOS ID: 09/02/2004-SiS661FX/SiS963L/W697-P4S800MX
OEM Sign-On: ASUS P4S800MX ACPI BIOS Revision 1010
BIOS Date: 09/02/04
BIOS Type: Award
Chipset: SiS 661 rev 17
Super I/O: Winbond 697HF rev 2 found at port 2Eh
OS: WinXP SP2
BIOS ROM Socket: Yes
BIOS ROM Size: 256K
Memory Installed: 1024 MB
Memory Max: 1024 MB
CPU: Intel® Pentium® 4 3000 Mhz MAX: 3733

Does this help? Meaning for you to advise me further?

Kind regards and thank you,

Well, first off, you need to boot to BIOS and write the number of the version of BIOS you have... then go to the manufacturer of your computers site (if you built it yourself, go to the manufacturer of the board you purchased's site). If you can not find the/a BIOS upgrade that matches exactly the numbers you have then should NOT attempt to do it. Flashing BIOS is a rather simple process that, if not done properly, could leave you with an over priced door stop.

As far as needing to update BIOS, if there is one available then I would do it. Just, as I mentioned, make sure you have the right update.

This post has been edited by tallin: Jan 14 2007, 12:38 AM

[Crow]

Ok.. This is a link to your BIOS update

Download and use that utility. You will need to download the update itself Which you will find here.




well.. i thought that may have shown them expanded... links are to the same page.. sorry about that. Just expand the BIOS utility and the BIOS... download the BIOS update itself and unpack it (if ness) to your my doc's folder... then install the utility and follow the instructions.

This post has been edited by Crow: Jan 14 2007, 12:42 AM

[tallin]

Hi Crow,

You advise "open the BIOS Utility" from
http://support.asus.com/download/download....model=P4S800-MX

I am unsure here whether you meant expand BIOS not the above as they are completely different.

I have on my desktop two downloads,

1) zip file 1011c.zip...224kb
2) aflash 221.zip...32kb

Which one or both do I unzip please?

I am a novice so could you bear with my basic questions here....thanks

kind regards,

Ok.. This is a link to your BIOS update

Download and use that utility. You will need to download the update itself Which you will find here.



well.. i thought that may have shown them expanded... links are to the same page.. sorry about that. Just expand the BIOS utility and the BIOS... download the BIOS update itself and unpack it (if ness) to your my doc's folder... then install the utility and follow the instructions.

[Crow]

Sorry for the length of time its taken for me to respond. In the picture below.. the arrow pointing to the box with the x inside it... click on that X and it will expand its properties.



You need to use the utility to flash the bios. Most likely you will also need a floppy disk. The utility should create a bootable diskette for you. Put the disk in and reboot. You will then be in a DOS environment. On the disk you just booted with there will (should) be 2 or 3 files. It will (should) ask you to tell it the name and location of the updated file (which is on the disk). Type in the name of the file exactly as it shows it to be on the disk at the prompt. Something probably like 1011.bin for example. Then press enter. MAKE SURE your not in the middle of an electrical storm or something were you may loose power because if you do loose power in the middle of the flash the chances on recovery are slim.

Keep in mind I am not familiar with the particular board you have, so the process may vary some what from what I have listed here. But it shouldnt be that much different.

[tallin]

Thank you very much for the detailed way to go about upgrading my BIOS. Much appreciated...

kind regards

[Crow]

If you dont feel comfortable doing it you might not want to. Like I said, its a fairly easy process but if not done correctly you could end up with a dead computer. I am not trying to scare you away from it, just want to make sure that you understand.


(in my honest opinion, unless your having issues with something that requires you to update your bios, then theres really no need to do it... however, thats my opinion)

[tallin]

Yes, well you must have known just what I was thinking Crow - From reading up about BIOS upgrade things can go wrong just as you said in your last post. SO I am thinking, "if it ain't broke don't fix it".
As mentioned I am a novice and as there are no issues at the moment I feel I will leave things as they are - BUT I value your input and have filed away all your advice for a time when I may need to act.

Thanks so much and especially for your patience with my basic questions asked.

Kind regards,

[paws]

Hi Tallin,
Crow in his great wisdom made the following comment, and I just wanted to confirm that he has stated my owns views , 110 per cent!

(in my honest opinion, unless your having issues with something that requires you to update your bios, then theres really no need to do it... however, thats my opinion)

I couldn't agree with him more.
Regards
paws

[tallin]

Thanks for reinforcing Crows advice Paws. Dough taught me "if it ain't broke don't be fixing it" only yesterday did he remind me of that wise move. BUT a good learning curve as always when I come to this forum for help and advice.

Thanks to you for taking the time to give me your valued thoughts.

Kind regards,