Re-Flash BIOS: step-by-step instruction

Any computer equipment and software, as is known, eventually becomes obsolete and ceases to meet current requirements. Equally, this also applies to the primary BIOS / UEFI systems, the software of which is integrated into a special chip on the motherboard. When installing new hardware ("hardware"), it may sometimes be necessary to re-flash the BIOS. On a laptop, at a stationary computer terminal, such a procedure will be performed, it does not matter. Technology is almost always the same. Some users, unfamiliar with the basics of such techniques, believe (and it is not unreasonable) that this process is unsafe and difficult. If you can agree with the first statement, then the second can be argued. In fact, flashing the BIOS of the motherboard - it's not so troublesome. But for the correct conduct of such a procedure, you should pay special attention to some important details and nuances, which depends on the motherboard manufacturer and the programs and techniques used for reflashing.

Why do I need to rebuild BIOS?

In general, if the computer upgrade is not planned, and the whole system works stably, updating the BIOS version is meaningless in principle.

But when a new hardware is installed on the computer, which the primary system may not be supported only because of its obsolescence (the BIOS of the device simply does not recognize it), the BIOS re-firming becomes an urgent problem. Although many users consider this process difficult, nevertheless any person working with a computer can perform such actions independently. It will take no more than 10 minutes.

Re-flashing BIOS motherboard: mandatory conditions

First, pay attention to a few mandatory conditions, non-observance of which can lead to disastrous consequences.

Download files and programs for upgrading primary systems should only be from the official resources of the motherboard manufacturers. In the case of installing an unofficial firmware, the guarantee that the process will be successful and the system after that will work as expected, no one will be able to give.

The second thing you should pay attention to is the uninterrupted power supply during the upgrade. Take care that there are no power surges or spontaneous disconnection of the computer or laptop from the mains, it is necessary in advance.

General rules for updating all firmware

Re-flashing BIOS for virtually all motherboard models implies the use of the same circuit:

• Downloading update files;
• Creating a bootable drive (USB devices only);
• Loading from the media;
• Installation of firmware;
• Reboot the system.

For standard BIOS systems, in most cases, the DOS mode is used. However, for some BIOS versions, as well as for more modern UEFI systems, a special program for flashing BIOS, created by the motherboard manufacturer, can be used, which can run even in Windows operating systems without the need to create bootable media.

How can I find out the modification of the motherboard and the current BIOS version?

The very first thing to do is to determine which model of the motherboard is installed in the computer system, and also to find out the version of the primary BIOS system (perhaps it is up to date and does not need updating).

You can view information about the board and BIOS version in the system information section , which is called from the "Run" console by the msinfo32 command.

For the motherboard, you can use specialized utilities like CPU-Z (formerly Everest). For a device defined in this way on the manufacturer's website, you need to find the latest firmware and save the files on the hard disk.

Preparing the bootable media (general method)

In the case of using bootable media, when an update from under Windows is not provided, at the first stage it needs to be created. Normal recording of downloaded files will not work.

To simplify the work, you can use the utility Rufus, which is very easy to learn and creates a bootable USB flash drive for a couple of minutes. In the parameters, there is practically nothing to change. Only in the file system should you specify FAT32, and in the write method use the MS-DOS mode, by checking the box next to the creation line of the bootable media. If you do not do this, the device will not be recognized as a boot device when it is rebooted. Then, in order to install the update, in some cases it will be necessary to additionally copy the control program and the firmware file to the media.

Next, the process of updating BIOS with examples for motherboards of several well-known manufacturers will be considered. Although in general they are very similar to each other, nevertheless, each of them has its own nuances. We assume that the boot priority from USB-media in BIOS settings is already installed.

ASUS

Re-flashing BIOS "Asus" can be made in several ways. Among the preferred utilities are two programs - AFUDOS and ASUSTeK EZ Flash 2.

When using the first utility, you should create a bootable media and pay attention to the file afudos.exe and the firmware itself (for example, p4c800b.rom).

The ASUS BIOS rebuilding looks like this. Boot from the flash drive. Since the medium was written for the DOS mode, the initial line C: \> appears on the black screen, in which you need to set the command / i p4c800b.rom and press the enter key. After the update is completed, a reboot will occur, during which you just need to remove the media from the USB port so that the system starts from the hard disk.

The BIOS rebuilding the ASUS motherboard when using the second utility is slightly different from the previous version.

Despite the fact that most of the firmware on the official site of ASUS have a .rom extension, sometimes there may be CAB files. There is nothing wrong with this, because they are used for UEFI systems.

For the firmware, enter the UEFI settings on reboot, go to Advanced Mode and in the Tool section select ASUSTeK EZ Flash 2. Next, select the media with the program (the same name string) from the list, afterwards The right firmware file will be shown to the right. Select it and twice agree with the warning (first to check the file, then to start the firmware process).

At the end of the process, a notification of the restart will appear, and at the beginning of the restart, a proposal for the initial configuration will be issued. Press F1 and set the required parameters. Otherwise - just exit the settings without saving the changes.

Gigabyte

Re-flashing BIOS of Gigabyte-systems differs from other processes quite strongly. First of all, this is due to the fact that you can use the online update to install the firmware. But first, let's look at the use of the Q-Flash utility, which is believed to be the best for upgrading the firmware of the Gigabyte motherboard.

First you need to enter BIOS settings and use the option to reset all Load Optimized default settings. After that, you need to save the changes, restart the computer and enter the BIOS settings again. Next, to start the Q-Flash utility, press the F8 key, and start is confirmed by pressing the Y and Enter keys. To begin with, it is recommended to save the current version using the Save Bios option, after which you need to use Update Bios. Next, you will be prompted for the source from which you want to update. As the media should choose HDD 2.0 (this is how the flash drive is displayed in the settings). Then everything is as usual: select the firmware file on the media and agree with all warnings.

For the internet update, you can use the @BIOS utility, which is specially developed by Gigabyte specialists, which is launched in a Windows environment. In this case, it is highly recommended to disable Hyper-Threading mode in the primary system settings, and also to deactivate the anti-virus and other resident applications to avoid errors or failures during the upgrade process.

After running the program, you can immediately save the current BIOS version by clicking the Save Current BIOS button, and then select the Internet Update update mode, click Update New BIOS and specify one of the servers in the list. After that, you will be asked to specify the model of the installed motherboard, and the program will automatically download all the necessary components and activate the updating process.

MSI

Flashing BIOS BIOS MSI, as in the case with ASUS, can be made either from under Windows, or from under DOS. For the DOS-mode, a "stitched" BIOS tool called BIOS-MFLASH is used. But MSI Live Update 5 or 6 can be used as the initial control utility. It is noteworthy that with its help it is possible to update all installed MSI drivers and also to update the BIOS of the corresponding graphics accelerators. We'll start with it.

In the main window, you just need to check the required items. Select the MB BIOS component and click the Scan button from the bottom (Scan). If a new firmware version is detected, use the Download and Install button, and then the update process will start.

You will first need to select the upgrade environment. To simplify the case, we mark In Windows mode, in the next window click the close button of all programs that appear in the list (Close all listed programs), click the Next button and in the next window click the start button of the process.

For DOS-mode, select it from the window of the launched update process, then specify the media and agree to the destruction of all the data present on it (the process will take no more than a minute, after which a message will be issued indicating the successful creation of the boot drive). When you restart, you will only have to follow the instructions of the original "Wizard".

If you upgrade using the built-in MFLASH mechanism, you will need to download the firmware manually, create the bootable media and perform the same actions in the BIOS as described above (the media and firmware file are selected in the tool menu).

Acer

Re-flashing the BIOS of Acer-systems is surprisingly much easier. Even bootable media does not need to be created, although it will not be necessary to format it in FAT32 anyway.

To install the update uses a special utility called Insyde Flash, which is copied to removable media. Simultaneously, in the main program directory on the flash drive, you need to copy the firmware file downloaded from the official site, having the extension .fd and corresponding not only to the motherboard, but also to the laptop model. Note that the device must contain only one firmware file, otherwise the application will prompt you to refresh only one of several. After starting the utility with the power turned on, the proposal to install the update will be issued immediately.

The second way is just as simple. First you need to completely turn off the laptop, pull the cord out of the outlet and wait until the power indicator stops blinking. Next, plug the cord into the socket, insert the USB flash drive into the corresponding port, press the Fn and Esc keys and press the power button. As soon as the indicator starts blinking, release the clipped keys. After that, the information will be read from the drive (this can be seen by the blinking of the LED on the device itself). At the end of the upgrade process, the laptop will reboot itself.

Video Cards

Since the dominant video cards on the market are GeForce and Radeon, the BIOS update will be considered on their example.

At the initial stage for your card on the manufacturer's website you need to download a new firmware and management programs. If the system has several video cards, at the time of the update you need to leave only one, inserting it into the PCI-Express slot.

For GeForce cards, NVFlash (from two files) is used, for Radeon - ATIFlash utility (one file). Next, you need to create a bootable USB-media for DOS-mode, and then copy it to the program and firmware files.

When starting from a USB flash drive, make sure that the card is uniprocessor, otherwise the proposed method will not work. For NVIDIA, use the command nvflash --list, for ATI - atiflash -i. If you get information on two cards, then the adapter has two processors, and the proposed firmware can not be used (it is better to consult the manufacturer's website and find the instruction there).

At the next stage, the BIOS rebuilding of the GeForce video card involves disabling the protection. This is done by the line nvflash -protectoff.

Next, to start the BIOS update process for GeForce cards, use the command nvflash -4 -5 -6 newbios.rom (the name of the ROM file must match the name of the downloaded firmware), for Radeon cards - atiflash -p -f 0 newbios.rom. After that, we wait for the process to finish and we overload the system in normal mode.

Summary results

That's all, as for the flashing of primary input / output systems. Based on all of the above, we can conclude that the best option is to install the update exclusively in DOS-mode, although for simplicity of operation and you can use special utilities. But they work only if there are UEFI systems, and for standard BIOS versions are not suitable. With video cards you need to be extremely careful, because incorrect installation of the update or the slightest violations during the flashing process can lead to the fact that the graphics adapter will fail.