Sorry about not getting back to you sooner. I reinstalled my OS with the Windows XP english version. I had been using the german variant of Windows, but it was driving me nuts. So I went out and bought the multi-lingual version, $160 at a german electronic store. It took me a day and a half to install everything, one reason being that I have a truck full of software that I use and the other reason being my birthday got in the way. About your BIOS update, unfortunately the ECS website doesn't offer much help on how to perform the update. Normally there are two ways to do an update to your BIOS. The first one is the easiest but does not apply to your situation. That is an automatic update performed directly from Windows. The second is done by copying an update utility along with the BIOS .bin file, provided by the mainboard builder, to a disk. The system must then be booted by a boot disk, Win 98 or later, into a virtual DOS mode that will allow you to access the update on the other disk. As soon as you get into the DOS mode you will see the command line "A:\". Without pressing anything on the keyboard pull the boot disk out from the disk drive. Put the update disk in your drive. At the command line "A:\" type "dir" and hit "enter". A list of data should show up on the screen. You will be looking for the line with an ".exe" on the end. Type the complete name into the command line and hit "enter". The BIOS setup utility should load from the disk. Now here is where you will be on your own, only because there are so many different utilities that I couldn't possibly explain all the processes to you. Just follow the instructions carefully. Remember if the utility does not support BIOS backup and you screw up the install, you will most likely have to buy a new board. I really recommend getting rid of that board you now own. Buy one from a reliable company, make sure it has a user friendly BIOS update utility and is compatible with the hardware you have. Most mainboard maker sites have compatibility lists.