You probably shouldn’t update your BIOS, but sometimes you need to. Here’s how to check what BIOS version your computer is using and flash that new BIOS version onto your motherboard as quickly and safely as possible.
RELATED:Do You Need to Update Your Computer’s BIOS?
Be very careful when updating your BIOS! If your computer freezes, crashes, or loses power during the process, the BIOS or UEFI firmware may be corrupted. This will render your computer unbootable—it’ll be “bricked.”
How to Check Your Current BIOS Version in Windows
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Your computer’s BIOS version is displayed in the BIOS setup menu itself, but you don’t have to reboot to check this version number. There are several ways to see your BIOS version from within Windows, and they work the same on PCs with a traditional BIOS or a newer UEFI firmware.
Check Your BIOS Version at the Command Prompt
To check your BIOS version from the Command Prompt, hit Start, type “cmd” in the search box, and then click the “Command Prompt” result—no need to run it as an administrator.
At the prompt, type (or copy and paste) the following command, and then hit Enter:
You’ll see the version number of the BIOS or UEFI firmware in your current PC.
Check Your BIOS Version by Using the System Information Panel
RELATED:How to Open the System Information Panel on Windows 10 or 8
You can also find your BIOS’s version number in the System Information window. On Windows 7, 8, or 10, hit Windows+R, type “msinfo32” into the Run box, and then hit Enter.
The BIOS version number is displayed on the System Summary pane. Look at the “BIOS Version/Date” field.
How to Update Your BIOS
Different motherboards use different utilities and procedures, so there’s no one-size-fits-all set of instructions here. However, you’ll perform the same basic process on all motherboards.
RELATED:How to Check Your Motherboard Model Number on Your Windows PC
First, head to the motherboard manufacturer’s website and find the Downloads or Support page for your specific model of motherboard. You should see a list of available BIOS versions, along with any changes/bug fixes in each and the dates they were released. Download the version to which you want to update. You’ll probably want to grab the newest BIOS version—unless you have a specific need for an older one.
If you purchased a pre-built computer instead of building your own, head to the computer manufacturer’s website, look up the computer model, and look at its downloads page. You’ll find any available BIOS updates there.
Your BIOS download probably comes in an archive—usually a ZIP file. Extract the contents of that file. Inside, you’ll find some sort of BIOS file—in the screenshot below, it’s the E7887IMS.140 file.
The archive should also contain a README file that will walk you through updating to the new BIOS. You should check out this file for instructions that apply specifically to your hardware, but we’ll try to cover the basics that work across all hardware here.
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You’ll need to choose one of several different types of BIOS-flashing tools, depending on your motherboard and what it supports. The BIOS update’s included README file should recommend the ideal option for your hardware.
Some manufacturers offer a BIOS-flashing option directly in their BIOS, or as a special key-press option when you boot the computer. You copy the BIOS file to a USB drive, reboot your computer, and then enter the BIOS or UEFI screen. From there, you choose the BIOS-updating option, select the BIOS file you placed on the USB drive, and the BIOS updates to the new version.
RELATED:What You Need to Know About Using UEFI Instead of the BIOS
How To Update Bios
You generally access the BIOS screen by pressing the appropriate key while your computer boots—it’s often displayed on the screen during the boot process and will be noted in your motherboard or PC’s manual. Common BIOS keys include Delete and F2. The process for entering a UEFI setup screen can be a bit different.
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There are also more traditional DOS-based BIOS-flashing tools. When using those tools, you create a DOS live USB drive, and then copy the BIOS-flashing utility and BIOS file to that USB drive. You then restart your computer and boot from the USB drive. In the minimal DOS environment that appears after the reboot, you run the appropriate command—often something like flash.bat BIOS3245.bin—and the tool flashes the new version of the BIOS onto the firmware.
The DOS-based flashing tool is often provided in the BIOS archive you download from the manufacturer’s website, although you may have to download it separately. Look for a file with the .bat or .exe file extension.
In the past, this process was performed with bootable floppy disks and CDs. We recommend a USB drive because it’s probably be the easiest method on modern hardware.
Some manufacturers provide Windows-based flashing tools, which you run on the Windows desktop to flash your BIOS and then reboot. We don’t recommend using these, and even many manufacturers who provide these tools caution against using them. For example, MSI “strongly recommends” using their BIOS-based menu option instead of their Windows-based utility in the README file of the sample BIOS update we downloaded.
Flashing your BIOS from within Windows can result in more problems. All that software running in the background—including security programs that may interfere with writing to the computer’s BIOS—can cause the process to fail and corrupt your BIOS. Any system crashes or freezes might also result in a corrupted BIOS. It’s better to be safe than sorry, so we recommend using a BIOS-based flashing tool or booting to a minimal DOS environment to flash your BIOS.
That’s it—after you run the BIOS-flashing utility, reboot your computer and the new BIOS or UEFI firmware version loads. If there’s a problem with the new BIOS version, you may be able to downgrade it by downloading an older version from the manufacturer’s website and repeating the flashing process.
Image Credit: Kal Hendry on Flickr, Robert Frelberger on Flickr
READ NEXT
BIOS is a term we have heard from quite sometimes, in fact, it’s possible that for most of your hardware issues the IT guy may have suggested a BIOS upgrade before troubleshooting the hardware. What is BIOS? BIOS is an acronym for (Basic Input Output System) and is a piece of software that goes along with the PC’s motherboard. In a nutshell, it forms a layer of communication between the hardware and the operating system. Thus needless to say the BIOS is very crucial when it comes to the functionality of your Windows 10/8/7 computer.
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Why update the System BIOS
BIOS is, after all, a piece of software that needs to be regularly updated, just to the operating system or the apps in general. The updates usually bake in enhancements and fixes which will eventually help the software maintain its compatibility with the hardware and the software. That being said unlike most of the other apps the BIOS needs to be updated manually, and that’s precisely the very thing that we will be explaining in this segment.
Most do not need to or have to update the BIOS. If your computer is working properly, you do not need to update or flash your BIOS. In any case, should you wish to, we recommend that you do not try to update your BIOS yourself, but instead take it to a computer technician who may be better equipped to do it. One needs to consider updating the BIOS only if you are facing some performance issues or other problems that necessitate you to update the BIOS. One needs to be careful and know how to update the BIOS; else it could brick you entire system.
How to check your BIOS version
Before updating the BIOS, you need to check the version from the System Information. We have already seen how to check the BIOS version. You have to type msinfo32 into the search and press Enter. Once the System Information Tool opens, you can check the BIOS version.
One can also run a command in CMD to check the BIOS version. Click on “Start Button” and press Run, once the Run box appears type system info and then press OK. You can just jot down the BIOS number and match it against the latest version from the manufacturer’s website, if needed update the same.
How to update BIOS in Windows
BIOS not only helps maintain the stability of your system but it will also increase the security and try to protect the system from any vulnerability.
Before you begin, make sure that you have power backup while upgrading the BIOS. Because if the computer turns off during the process, the BIOS may be corrupted and you will need a technician to fix it. Your boot CD/DVD may or may not help depending upon how the BIOS stands after a powercut or a sudden system turn off while rewriting the BIOS.
American Megatrends Motherboard Drivers
Visit the manufacturer’s site to download the BIOS update, for instance, if you own a Dell laptop you can head over to Dell.com, or you could use Dell Update Utility.
Identify your product by entering Service tag or serial number.
Windows 10 pro license activation. For OEM, unless you have changed the mainboard, you can reinstall or reimage yourcomputer.
That being said the update procedure might vary slightly from product to product. It is also worth mentioning that the OEM’s stop updating the BIOS for some of the machines after a certain time span.
Read: How to reset BIOS settings to default.
Update BIOS by creating a Bootable USB
One can also download the BIOS update.EXE file to a bootable Flash drive and update the same. To do this first, you need to head over to the official company website and download the BIOS file.
In order to create a Bootable USB Flash Drive use, Dell Diagnostic Deployment Package and the corresponding instructions are given here.
You may find this video drom Dell.com about updating the BIOS useful:
Using BIOS Update applications
Now, this is the easiest part and I have been using this method to update the BIOS on my HP Laptop since quite some time. The motherboard manufacturers to have their own BIOS update applications and all you need to do is press a button and voila! The software will take care of the rest. It’s always advisable to turn off firewalls and other security software since they could meddle with the process.
Updating the BIOS on HP computers
As we explained earlier the BIOS update process is slightly different for different brands and in order to leave no stones unturned, we will also be taking you through steps to update the BIOS for HP systems.
Use Lenovo System Update to update BIOS on Lenovo laptops
Well, in case you own a Lenovo laptop the best way to update the BIOS would be to use the Lenovo System Update which is supported on ThinkPad, ThinkCentre, ThinkStation, Lenovo V, B, K, and E-Series. Alternatively, you can directly download the BIOS from the Lenovo support site and install the same manually.
Update BIOS on ASUS using WinFLASH
To update the BIOS on ASUS systems, you will have to use the WinFLASH Utility. Detailed instructions can be found on asus.com.
In a nutshell updating the BIOS is a pretty straight forward process considering that you get the model number right. In fact, most of the recent Windows versions like the Windows 10 handle the update process in a much more elegant manner as opposed to lets says Windows XP systems.
Handy links … Just in case…
TIP: Download this tool to quickly find & fix Windows errors automatically
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