Can you please help me with the following: I need to upgrade my BIOS because the old one does not support my new additional 40 Gb hard drive. 1) In the update instructions, they recommend to reboot the system without loading any memory handler nor device driver. Does that mean that I have to configure the booting session of my old BIOS in such a way that it only boots on A and nothing else (nor the hard drives)? 2) They recommend to check that the DOS receives free 520K or more. What does that mean ? And 3) what happens in this motherboard flashing process fails, what do I risk to loose ? Thank you.

Francois, i think i'm right in saying that what you need to do is boot up using a formatted floppy where all you put on there was the system files...no drivers or utils etc. like on a win98 boot disk except for the bios flash prog and its rom file. If you have the floppy as first boot device, the hd doesnt matter, nothing is loaded anyway. I'd go into the bios and disable fast start and shadowing and then try it. If it fails, you could be computerless until you figure out anything else that needs doing. Chances of it going completely wrong are not high as most people instantly warn you!!! But you do have to be aware. Most flash utilities have a check facility that makes sure the version its going over is compatiable and also gives you the option to save the old one somewhere on your hard drive which is of course a good idea.

To make a boot disk that will not load and drivers or anything open a DOS prompt. Start ---> run --> command Insert a blank disk in drive A. Type in format a: /s hit enter. Now to add on the program to chack the free MEM. browse to c:\windows\command Copy the MEM.exe file to the floppy disk you just made. Now you can boot to the boot disk. at the A prompt type in MEM this will show you your current amout of used and free memory. To answer #3... If it goes wronge... you can kiss your motherboard goodbye, or replace the BIOS chip on it with a identical one from the MoBo manufac.

Does your MOBO support ATA 100?

When you turn on your computer, several events occur automatically The CPU "wakes up" and sends a message to activate the BIOS. The BIOS then runs a series of tests, called the POST for Power On Self Test, to make sure the system devices are working correctly. In general, the BIOS: Initializes system hardware and chipset registers Initializes power management Tests RAM (Random Access Memory) Enables the keyboard Tests serial and parallel ports Initializes floppy disk drives and hard disk drive controllers Displays system summary information During POST, the BIOS compares the system configuration data obtained from POST with the system information stored on a CMOS - Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor - memory chip located on the motherboard. (This CMOS chip, which is updated whenever new system components are added, contains the latest information about system components.) After the POST tasks are completed, the BIOS looks for the boot program responsible for loading the operating system. Usually, the BIOS looks on the floppy disk drive A: followed by drive C:. After being loaded into memory, the boot program then loads the system configuration information (contained in the registry in a Windows® environment) and device drivers. Finally, the operating system is loaded, and, if this is a Windows® environment, the programs in the Start Up folder are executed. How to identify the BIOS version on your computer: Right click My Computer Choose Properties Choose Device Manager Click the + beside System devices Highlight System board Click Remove Click OK to confirm removal Close Device Manager Click Start > Shutdown Select Restart When Windows reboots the device will be re detected Click Start > Run Type Regedit in the box Click OK Click the + beside each of the following; HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE ENUM ROOT PNP0C01 Highlight 0000 Read the version from the right hand pane (BiosVersion key) HOW TO FLASH AMI or AWARD BIOS: This works for where BIOS is a Plug 'n Play BIOS, and has to be used with SST or Winbond Flash Memory. If this BIOS is programmed in EPROM or other brands of Flash Memory (not SST nor Winbond), there will be a problem with Windows RESTART function. If your on-board BIOS is Award BIOS and you want to program the AMI BIOS file into the on-board BIOS, you must use the "AWARD" flash utility (i.e.: AWDFL52B.EXE, AWDFL534.exe ). How to use the AMI FLASH Utility to program a new BIOS into a Flash memory. You have to make sure first that the BIOS installed in your mainboard is Flash memory, and not EPROM. 1. Turn on your computer. 2. Boot up clean, bypassing your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 3. Then, run the AMI FLASH UTILITY file. DRIVE:\>AMI_FLASH UTILITY_FILE BIOS_FILE EX: C:\>AMIFL530 A37A.ROM The programming screen will be shown. At the bottom of the screen, the following message will appear: Press "Y" to Continue, "N" to Reboot Press "N" if you do not want to continue programming the new BIOS. Press "Y" if you want to continue programming the new BIOS. The new BIOS will then be programmed. When it has finished programming, the following message will appear: Flash EPROM Program Successful. Press Any Key to Reboot. You have successfully programmed the new BIOS. How to use the AWARD FLASH Utility This utility is used to program a new BIOS into a Flash memory. You have to make sure first that the BIOS installed in your mainboard is Flash memory,and not EPROM. 1. Turn on your computer. 2. Boot up clean, bypassing your AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS files. 3. Then, run the AWDFLASH.exe file. EX: C:\>AWDFL52B The programming screen will be shown. You will be prompted to enter the file name to program: EX: WF73.BIN At the bottom of the screen, the following message will appear: Do you want to save BIOS (Y/N)? Press "N" if you do not want to save the old BIOS. Press "Y" if you want to save the old BIOS. Enter file name to save. After saving the old BIOS, the following message will appear at the bottom of the screen: Are you sure to program (Y/N)? Press "N" if you do not want to program the new BIOS. Press "Y" if you want to continue programming the new BIOS. The new BIOS will then be programmed. When it has finished programming, the following message will appear: Flash EPROM Program Successful. You have successfully programmed the new BIOS.