Doing that flash thing
Note: Flashing your BIOS can be fatal for your motherboard if there is a power failure or surge during the flashing process. If your system is working fine and you don’t find any problems with your motherboard, do not upgrade your BIOS. If you decide to do so anyway, make sure to get some assistance from an engineer or a person well versed in computer hardware.
The process explained here is applicable to popular Award BIOS (applicable to some more).
Before you begin make sure you have a bootable floppy.
STEP 1
Identity your motherboard and the current BIOS version. Press the PAUSE key while your system boots up and note down the signature of your BIOS. The name of your BIOS manufacturer shows up at the top left corner of the screen while your system does a part of the string, denotes the motherboard manufacturer, in this case, DFI (Diamond Flower).
If your motherboard uses an Award BIOS, you can check for the manufacturer at
www.abios.com/award.html . If it uses an AMI BIOS, check
www.bios.com/ami.html
STEP 2
Depending on the type of your BIOS, download the latest flash utility and the necessary update file from your motherboard manufacturer’s site to Floppy Disk. Unzip the files. There should be three files in all: an .exe file, a .bin file (BIOS update) and a .txt file.
Copy the .exe and .bin files to the bootable floppy disk.
STEP 3
Boot your PC using a bootable floppy. See to it that no memory management programs or emulators such as emm386.exe are running, as this might interrupt the update process.
STEP 4
On running the flash utility, type the executable filename with the parameter as follows:
A:\> [executable file] [bin file]
You can type [executable file] / ? to seek help on using the file.
STEP 5
Most flash updating utilities have an option to backup your old BIOS settings. Make sure that you backup the current BIOS to a file by using the same utility.
STEP 6
Check the path of the .bin file and press [Enter] to proceed. You’ll be asked for a confirmation. Press [y] to continue. The software will automatically update your BIOS. During this period there should be no power surges or electrical disturbances, else your BIOS can get corrupted and you have to replace it (if the BIOS is socketed) or buy a new motherboard (if it’s hardwired).
STEP 7
Exit the flash updating utility, reboot the PC and enter the BIOS settings by pressing [Del] while your system boots. Load the BIOS defaults by pressing [F6] or [F7], as required. Now when you reboot your PC, your BIOS ID at the bottom left corner of the screen should show the new date (the date on which you flashed your BIOS.)
You’re done. Now your PC will run smooth and steady with the newer instructions written into your BIOS. Hardware compatibility issues and bugs, if any, will also get resolved when you flash the BIOS.