Using Winflash to update BIOS???

[JWL]

Hey...I have a HP Pavilion Laptop...I went and DL'd the BIOS updates from HP.com...and here is what it says about the file I DL'd:

This SoftPaq contains the Winflash utility and a System BIOS image. The WinFlash utility is used to locally flash the System ROM on PCs through a Windows environment.

I never knew you could flash a BIOS inside of windows...is this something new...is this a safer way to update the BIOS?

I have heard crazy things about updating a BIOS....so I am really scared about messing up. I mean it seems ABC123 simple, but just want to make sure everything goes alright.

When I opened the self-extracting file...the only warning it gave was: DO NOT POWER PC OFF WHILE BIOS IS UPDATING. Which I already knew this.

Has anyone used this Winflash to update their BIOS? How safe is this?

Thanks,

JWL


P.S. I am having problems with PnP on my USB...and this update addresses a lot of those issues...so that is why I am updating.

 

[Didou]

There are quite a few applications to flash your BIOS while Windows is running such as the AsusUpdate or MSI's LiveUpdate.

Most people feel safer booting on a W98 bootdisk & doing it the old way though.

 

[JWL]

Hey....thanks for writing...well, I am on a laptop which doesn't have a 3.5 floppy...so I can't make a bootdisk.

Anyway...that just seems more complex to me...seems like flashing in windows would be like using a damn Mac or something....ABC's.

 

[will56]

The main thing is to no have anything running in the background if you use winflash. You should exit out of all systray apps - anti-virus apps, and sound apps (nothing should be seen in the sys tray). I used the old way in about 150+ builds, and still do it that way sometimes. But for the last year I have used winflash and it works just fine so lng as you are not overclocked in any way and you exit running apps. Some board makers like Biostar put the bios update right into the bios menu which is very convienent.

 

[Anton]

Command Line Usage,

I want to use winflash from an entirely command line point of view, including the reboot after the flash is finished.
At the moment I can flash with command line but not reboot.
Any ideas.

Thanks.

 

[gabirata]

Hey man, Can you tell which is the commad line to call the winFlash program? even without the option to reboot!
Thank you.

 

[b2cjordan]

Win flash software

Where can I get a good free version of win flash to upgrade my computer?

 

[LookinAround]

The best/safest approach: (prices in USD)

1) Buy floppy drive ($20-$25) (either an internal drive or if your system can boot from a USB device get a USB floppy)
2) But some 3.5" floppy media (a few bucks)
3) Create floppy A: bootable floppy that boots into DOS
4) Create floppy B: Copy the BIOS update file onto the floppy. If needed, rename the file so it has 8 or fewer letters in its base filename (the letters on the left of .exe)
=> This assures you when you boot into DOS you don't have any DOS short vs long names issues
5) Turn off computer. Insert floppy A. Start machine and wait for it to boot into DOS
=> You should see the floppy drive light turn on when it's reading the floppy
=> If it only lights briefly, and the floppy only spins briefly it implies your computer looked but didn't find a bootable image on the floppy
=> Be patient. Wait for DOS to start and you get the prompt
6) Swap the floppies. Insert floppy B
7. enter the full name of the BIOS update file at the DOS prompt
8) Be patient. may take a minute or two until you see messages on the screen.
=> DO NOT interrupt the BIOS update image process. give it time to complete (probably a couple minutes but i'd say wait 5-10 minutes to be safe)