Updating the BIOS is fairly simple, but never the less should be done by someone with a fair amount of technical computer experience. As easy as updating the BIOS is, if a mistake is made the result could be catastrophic for your computer and may require you to purchase a new BIOS chip or motherboard to correct the problem.

To update your BIOS first you need to gather some important information about your computer's motherboard. Before you can update your BIOS you must know all of the following.

• The exact model of motherboard you have.
• The revision of motherboard you have. Many motherboards of the same name have different revisions.
• The type of BIOS your motherboard uses.

• The capacity of the BIOS chip on your motherboard.

While the first two items above are absolutely crucial you may not need to know the second two. With most motherboards the model number is printed on the cover of the user's manual and often on the motherboard itself. The revision number is usually printed on the motherboard in white writing next to one of the expansion slots or on one of the corners of the motherboard. With most of our motherboards the revision is printed on the left rear corner in small white writing.

Once you know which model and revision of motherboard you have you then need to download the corresponding BIOS update from the motherboard manufacturer's web site. The BIOS update will consist of two files a flash utility and the BIOS update in binary format. The flash utility writes the updated BIOS file to the ROM BIOS chip on your motherboard.

If your motherboard uses AWARD Modular BIOS then you will use an AWARD flash utility such as AWDFL763.EXE. If your motherboard uses American Megatrends International (AMI) BIOS then you will use a AMI flash utility such as AMIfl818.EXE. BIOS files for AWARD type BIOS are in binary format and the file names end in .BIN. AMI BIOS files are in hexadecimal format and the file names end in .ROM.

Here is the procedure to follow to safely update your BIOS. (NOTE: This does not guarantee success)

1. Determine the model and revision of motherboard you have.

2. Locate your motherboard's model and revision in one of the tables below. If your motherboard is not listed in either of the following tables then a BIOS update is not available for your motherboard.

3. Download the BIOS update for your motherboard by clicking on the model number in one of the tables below. When prompted to open the file or save it, choose to save the file and then save it on your hard drive in a directory where you will be able to find it later.

4. Once you have downloaded the file and saved it on your hard drive put a formatted 3 1/2" diskette in your floppy drive A:

5. While in Windows, located the file you downloaded on your hard drive and double-click on it. A window titled 'WinRAR self-extracting archive' will appear. In the text box labeled 'Install to' type A:\ and then click on the 'Install' button at the bottom, this will extract the BIOS update and flash utility to the floppy disk in drive A:

6. Create a Windows 98 bootable floppy disk. If you are unable to create a Windows 95 or 98 bootable floppy disk on your own then you can download a image of a bootable disk here. To create a bootable floppy disk using the downloaded image, put a second formatted floppy disk in drive A: and double-click on the floppy disk image you downloaded. The image will make the disk in drive A: bootable so that you can boot the computer from it and enter DOS mode.

7. Once you have your bootable floppy disk and the floppy disk that contains the BIOS update and flash utility, restart the computer and hold down the DELETE key to enter the CMOS. A blue screen with CMOS Setup Utility at the top will appear. In the CMOS you need to set the FIRST BOOT device to FLOPPY. If you are not sure how to do this you can consult your motherboard's user's manual or call for technical support. Once you have set the FIRST BOOT device to FLOPPY, save the changes you have made and exit CMOS. Make sure that your bootable floppy disk is in drive A:

8. When the computer restarts it will read the floppy disk and boot from it. When the STARTUP MENU appears choose 'START COMPUTER WITHOUT CD-ROM SUPPORT'  After a few seconds the compute will stop at the A:\ prompt.

9. Once you see the A:\ prompt on the screen, remove your bootable floppy from drive A: and insert the floppy disk with the BIOS update and flash utility on it. Depending on which type of BIOS you have and which flash utility you are using the command you type will be slightly different, however the format will be the same. The following two examples show commands used for each type of BIOS.

          For AMI BIOS's type the following:

          AMINF325.EXE BIOSFILE.ROM /A /SORIGINAL.ROM   

          AMINF325.EXE BIOSFILE.ROM /A                               

(This will save the original BIOS to the file ORIGINAL.ROM)

(This will perform the actual update)

          AWDFL763.EXE BIOSFILE.BIN

10. Once you have successfully updated your BIOS and the computer restarts you may see the message 'CMOS Checksum Bad'. This is NOT an error message per say, it simply indicates that you need to enter the CMOS Setup Utility by pressing the DELETE or F1 key and save the CMOS settings.

If you experience an error while flashing your BIOS or you suspect that the update did not work, DO NOT restart your computer! You need to call Technical Support immediately at (540) 337-7777 and let them know exactly what you did. The first thing the flash utility does when you attempt to update your BIOS is to erase the original BIOS in the BIOS chip. If the BIOS was not successfully reprogrammed then when you restart your computer you will be unable to use it.

Not all errors are serious, most of the time if you receive an error message while attempting to update your BIOS the problem is usually due to a mistyped command, incorrect flash utility or incorrect BIOS size. These types of errors will stop the flash utility before it erases the original BIOS on the motherboard. Below are some common errors incurred while attempting to update the BIOS.

• Error messages such as '.ROM file wrong size', 'Incorrect BIOS size', etc. indicate that the updated BIOS file you downloaded is not compatible with the BIOS chip on the motherboard. For example most BIOS updates are for 2Mb BIOS chips, however if your BIOS chip is a 1Mb chip then you will get an error message similar to this. If this is the case then you will need to purchase a replacement BIOS chip in order to update your BIOS.

• Error messages such as 'File not found'  or 'ERROR 2: File does not exist' indicates that you are either trying to flash your BIOS from a floppy diskette that may have bad sectors, or you are not typing the name of the BIOS file correctly (including the extension). If you receive this message make sure that you are attempting to update your BIOS from your hard drive and that you are typing the correct name of the BIOS file including the extension.

• Error messages such as 'Unknown flash part' or 'Unknown flash type' indicate that the flash utility you are using is not compatible with the BIOS chip on your motherboard. If you get this error message then download a different revision of the flash utility and try again. Several versions of each flash utility are available on this page below the BIOS code.

• Error messages such as 'Disable USB' indicate that a severe problem was encountered during the flash process which MAY have been caused by the onboard USB controller. In most cases this message appears when the flash process ended abnormally due to a problem. Often the problem is not the USB controller but in fact the BIOS chip itself. If you experience this problem DO NOT reboot your computer. If you reboot the computer it will be disabled. If you have made a backup of the original BIOS try restoring the original BIOS. If you did not make a backup then you have two choices. 1) Flash the BIOS again with the same BIOS date the system originally had, or 2) purchase a new BIOS chip.

ALWAYS SAVE YOUR ORIGINAL BIOS TO A DISK BEFORE YOU UPDATE IT