Hi! My girlfriend has the following pc: P4 2GHz 256 Mb RAM 40 Gb harddrive, Samsung, 5400 RPM(yep, slow) Geforce FX 5200 AOpen AX4G Pro motherboard, bios version 1.00sky Win XP Home with all updates Manufacturer:Sky Now, 2 questions. First the most important one: It will occasionally give the message of a power surge in the USB hub. One of the possible cures for this seems to be a BIOS update, so I thought I'd do just that. However, when I download any bios from AOpen, follow the instructions in the manual and try to run it(basically, unzip, put in a folder and run), I get two error messages. 1: ----------- 16-bits ms-dos subsystem ----------- c:\windows\ezwinf~1.TMP\~morbc~.exe c:\windows\system32\autoexec.nt. The system file is unsuited for MS DOS and Microsoft Windows-applications. Choose Close to abort ------------ And then comes 2: ---------- Get BIN file remain space failed !(002) ------------- The tool then runs normally, only saying that the space remaining for new bios is insufficient. It does let me backup the current BIOS. However, call me chicken, but I don't think it might be a good idea to continue the bios update with those messages. Does anyone have a good idea about how to get that nasty BIOS updated without wrecking the PC? I mean, sure, I have a backup of the bios, but the tool only backs up and doesn't know how to put it back. And question 2: what would be the best upgrade for this pc to let it run faster? 256 mb of extra RAM of a 7200 RPM harddrive?

When you download the BIOS do you first extract the files from the BIOS Rom? If you double click it, it should extract several files; you then find the BIOS.BIN and place it on the disk, with the AWDFLASH.exe utility (if you have an AWARD bios) I had the same problem because I didn't decompress the file and the BIOS utility cannot flash the entire file. Raymond Mackie Technical Support Mgr. rmackie@microtailors.com www.microtailors.com "Custom computers and prices tailored to fit you"

She doesn't have an AWARD bios, but she does have a .exe and a .bin file. I can't extract either any further. In other news, I tried to start the utility on another win XP machine. It didn't detect an AX4G pro mobo (logical, that machine has another mobo), but it starts without errors. Thanks for the speedy answer, but I'm still puzzled. I only have experience with Intel bios updates.

A lot of BIOS update utilities need to run from a bootable floppy. It's more difficult for the average user, but more reliable in my opinion. You updater runs from Windows so it seems there is some conflict preventing the application from running. Try booting into safe mode and running it from there. Good luck. Michael J

I agree with flashing the BIOS from DOS. You can use a Win98 or WinME startup disk, or you can create one in WinXP by going to My Computer & right clicking on Floppy (A:)...just select format & put a check next to "create MS-DOS startup disk". I usually put the BIOS file & flash utility on a separate floppy disk. Just boot off the bootable floppy to get into DOS mode...once it stops at the A:\> prompt, remove the startup floppy & insert the floppy with the BIOS files. Type the name of the flash utility (without the .exe) & hit ENTER...then just follow the instructions Asus A7N8X-X 1800+ @ 8 x 210MHz 512MB PC3200 Asus Ti4200 128MB WinME/WinXP Pro

I tried it from Safe Mode, it gave an application error :(. Will try the boot disk tonight. So far, thanks for the excellent advice! anything on question 2?