finding new flash BIOS

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - finding new flash BIOS

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:04:38 PM EDT

I need to install a new BIOS on my pc. How the hell do I find which BIOS program I need ? I know I have a Celeron 733 chip. Intel's website is about as useful as tits on a boar.

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:11:11 PM EDT

[#1]

do you want to flash the current bios and upgrade it, or is it fried and you need a completely new chip.

to flash, find your motherboards model number and manufacturere(MSI, Shuttle, Tyan, Abit, Asus...list goes on) www.makersname.com

just take the side of your comptuer off, both are usually written in on the top side of your mother board, there are also free programs out there that find out the info by running them but i always have bad luck. i prefer the open and look method.

they will have a downloads section, you go to that seciton and find the updated bios seciont and they usually have dirrecitons in there, follow them to the T!!!!

purchase a new bios, you need to know the same thing for sure, after that i have no idea, you might be able to get one from the maker also.

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:11:48 PM EDT

[#2]

Quoted:
I need to install a new BIOS on my pc. How the hell do I find which BIOS program I need ? I know I have a Celeron 733 chip. Intel's website is about as useful as tits on a boar.

View Quote

The type of BIOS is determined by the type of MOBO (motherboard), not the type of processor, so that's the first thing you need to find out. Why do you need to update the BIOS anyway? This procedure is not for the faint of heart, because one screw-up and your $1500 computer is a very expensive paperweight.

{Edited because I can't spell procedure.}

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:12:05 PM EDT

[#3]

How do I tell what my BIOS version?
A: When you boot your computer before the motherboard information shows, upper left hand corner of your screen. You can find your VGA card information will be briefly displayed.
There is the BIOS version on your VGA card

How do I update (flashing) my BIOS?
A:

Carefully read theses instruction list below and in order to update your BIOS.

You do not flash your BIOS from the windows environment.
You must flash your BIOS from DOS mode. (Not DOS prompt in windows)
* Choose "Restart in MS-DOS mode" from the shut down menu.
* Hold down the F8 key while your system is booting and "select the safe mode command prompt only".
Download all of the file needed to flash your VGA card.
* BIOS file ex: 2.25.02.07
* BIOS flash program file ex: v3.12
The file will be in the ZIP file and you need to extract the ZIP file.
Any interruption to the flash process will render your VGA card unusable , so please be careful.

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:14:58 PM EDT

[#4]

1. Why do you think you need a new BIOS?

2. The Flash BIOS is dependent on your MOTHERBOARD, and has nothing to do with your CPU.

3. Flashing the wrong BIOS, WILL result in you computer dying, and needing a motherboard replacement.

Basically, you need to find out these things:

A. Brand of Computer.

B. If computer is not a name brand (i.e. clone PC), then you will need to find out your brand of motherboard

C. Model number of motherboard

D. Rev. number of motherboard (if they have multiple revisions and different BIOS's.

Then, go to your Computer or motherboard manufacturer's website, and look up the latest BIOS. Make the diskette according to their instructions.

Posted: 8/10/2002 9:57:48 PM EDT

[#5]

Here is my .02 of info. If you are installing window xp, you will need to upgrade your bios. Some of the older bios will not work with it. This sounds a little techinical, but you will need to do it. XP is a solid OS, but this one thing that you will need to do with an older board. Get the number from the lower left hand corner when you boot up. Write it down and make sure that you can read it. Go to the motherboard makers website. They should have a download section for bios upgrade. Also read their instructions on upgrading bios. You might have to look in the FAQ section. Follow those instructions and everything will be ok.

also, i found one site that wanted to sell me the bios lol for a whooping 65 bucks. They sent me emails on why i didnt buy them. I just laugh and shake my head sometimes.

Hope that helps
lojack

Posted: 8/10/2002 11:02:34 PM EDT

[#6]

Dont do it unless its for a specific fix for a problem you are having.If you cant find the new bios[if there is one for your board]you dont know if its going to fix it or not.Find out your motherboard manufacture.Go to there website.They'll have it there or point you to it.It will descibe what it fixes[usually].You can fix a screwup but its a pain.send bios chip back ect so dont screw it up.

Posted: 8/12/2002 5:23:38 AM EDT

[#7]

I want to flash the current BIOS and upgrade it becuase I have Windows XP on this machine now and it is giving me some problems. The machine originally came with Windows ME.

Thanks for telling me that the BIOS has to do with the motherboard and not the processor. I was wondering why the hell I was banging my head against the wall trying to figure out what BIOS I needed on Intel's website.

Posted: 8/12/2002 5:36:30 AM EDT

[#8]

When I boot my pc I don't get the screen that shows you the bios information. I get a screen that only has hp's logo and then from there I get the windows xp screen. I tried hitting the F2, F8, and Delete keys repeatedly immeadiately after I turned the pc on to try to force it to go into BIOS mode so I can look up the BIOS version, but that did not work. How do I get this pc to go into BIOS mode when I'm booting up ?

Posted: 8/12/2002 7:55:43 AM EDT

[#9]

If your getting that screen you obviously have an HP. Your motherboard was also manufactured by HP. What you need to do is go to [url]http://thenew.hp.com/country/us/eng/drivers.html[/url]. Enter your machine model into the search engine. By that I mean Pavillion XXX, or whatever is on the actual case. If a newer version of the bios does exist, it'll be here. If you can't find one here, it's doubtful a newer one exists. When you download the bios you should get a page with step by step instructions on what to do.

Posted: 8/12/2002 3:30:27 PM EDT

[#10]

Killer, thanks for the link. I couldn't find anything for my pc (pavillion 744) so I guess I'm sol as far as finding a new bios program.

Posted: 8/12/2002 9:12:06 PM EDT

[#11]

If anyone else with an HP has this problem do this: When the PC is booted up, press F1 or Delete depending on your system model. Go to the Boot section by pressing the left or right arrows on your keyboard and hightlight it. Press Enter. Scroll down to the Boot-time Diagnostic screen. Select Enabled by pressing the + or - key on your keypad on the keyboard. Press F10. You'll get a pop up asking "Save configuration changes and exit?" If Yes is highlighted, press Enter. On the next boot, the HP splash screen is replaced with the system's info.

Posted: 8/12/2002 9:20:20 PM EDT

[#12]

Let me say this about HP "home" machines.

1. They suck.

2. Their factory software builds suck, bloated with all kinds of crap you dont want or need.

3. When HP builds and sells a pavillion with a specific OS load, historically, they will ONLY support that machine with that OS. What this means is, they wont even write drivers, or any support documents for any other more recent OS's. I have seen MANY MANY HP pavillion models that came with Win98 that flat out would not run Windows 2000... because of the lack of OEM support from HP. HP takes the word proprietary to a new level. You have no guarantees that XP will run on a Pavillion unless it came with it. I stay away from them at any cost.

Dude, get a Dell.

Posted: 8/12/2002 9:27:04 PM EDT

[#13]

Quoted:
I couldn't find anything for my pc (pavillion 744) so I guess I'm sol as far as finding a new bios program.

View Quote

Don't give up so fast there, Kimosabe.

Use Google [url]google.com[/url] or your favorite search engine--type in HP Pavilion 744. It will bring up a few hits, more than likely. There are still OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) out there and tech sites that will have the data on your model's motherboard make, model and revision number. And some might even have a mirror to the needed BIOS.

Of course, you can shorten this whole process considerably by powering down your pc, taking of the case side/back and reading this info of the motherbaord your self. In this case, write down the information down and search for the motherboard brand, motherboard model # and revision number into your search engine of choice.

MAKE ABSOLUTELY SURE YOU COME BACK IN HERE AND POST UPDATES BEFORE YOU FLASH YOUR BIOS.

The computer gurus in here can guide you from that point.

Posted: 8/13/2002 3:11:13 AM EDT

[#14]

You all keep saying to just look at the motherboard to tell what model it is. Well I've had this sucker out of the case for a while now and I can not figure out where on this thing it says what model or whatever it is. WHERE and WHAT exactly am I looking for ? And PLEASE don't say the "top" or the "side" without explaining where the hell that is.

Freeride, I don't see any of these words: MSI, Shuttle, Tyan, Abit, Asus on this motherboard. Although Killer said since this is a HP machine it is an HP motherboard.

Posted: 8/13/2002 3:32:41 AM EDT

[#15]

If you didn't find anything on the HP website, you aren't finding anything - there is no BIOS update for your PC, at least one that HP would support should it screw up (which you want, since they made your PC).

Also, why do you find it so imperative to upgrade your BIOS? Generally it is best not to mess with flashing your BIOS unless you are experiencing a problem and a BIOS flash would resolve it. As others have stressed, one glitch in the flash process, and you have a very expensive paperweight.

the_reject

Posted: 8/13/2002 3:51:13 AM EDT

[#16]

You all keep saying to just look at the motherboard to tell what model it is.Well I've had this sucker out of the case for a while now and I can not figure out where on this thing it says what model or whatever it is. WHERE and WHAT exactly am I looking for.

For some reason manufactors think its agianst the law to make it obvious.You could do a search on google like[HP model ???? motherboard bios update].like reject says you probally wont find one on a proprietary motherboard.

The model # may be numbers,numbers and letters ect.It may not say model ect.It may be the smallest writing on there.I've lucked out entering numder ang groups of on google.

Posted: 8/13/2002 7:39:55 AM EDT

[#17]

This would [b]appear[/b] to be the latest bios for your machine. I would use a little discretion in updating the bios. Those XP specific updates may fix what you want without having to muck with the bios.
[url]http://www.hp.com/cposupport/swindexes/hppavilion24334_swen.html[/url]

Posted: 8/13/2002 8:20:29 AM EDT

[#18]

Killer, mine is a pavilion 744, not an ex744. Would that make a difference ? Actually it might have been a pavilion 744i. I don't have the original case it came in so I'm not sure, but I positive that there was no "ex" in the model number.

Posted: 8/13/2002 8:45:57 AM EDT

[#19]

I would look at the product specs [url]http://hp-at-home.com/products/pavilionPCs/specifications.php?modelNumber=XE744[/url]

If they match your system the ex is probably the same motherboard. If they won't charge you, the one way to be sure is call or e-mail customer support. It's pretty likely the difference is something stupid like what software came bundled with it.

Posted: 8/13/2002 3:02:14 PM EDT

[#20]

All HP machines have a "tattoo" on their systems to make sure only HP designated software work only with HP machines. Lucky for me, I tried to upgrade my BIOS and turned my mobo into a nice door-stop. But I was still under warranty and got a replacement. The guy forgot to put the tattoo on it. I brought it back again. Picked up my HP at another day and brought it home. When I tried to boot up, I got the non system disk error. I checked my floppy drive, lo and behold! The idiot who tattooed my BIOS left the disk in the floppy drive. Now I got my hands on HP's secrets to tattooing the BIOS. With this disk, I can configure any machine to accept HP Recovery CDs wheter they are HP machines or not. I haven't done it yet though. Muhahahahahaha!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - finding new flash BIOS

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