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Name: XpUser
I'm just wondering if flashing BIOS right from Windows desktop has been around for sometime. I happen to come across this Dell bulletin that include installation instructions as to how to do it.
i_Xp/VistaUser
I would guess at least two years. I think when I first heard of it flashing from within Windows was an option. Now, on some boards, I'm not sure it is optional anymore.
IMO that whole trend is a bad idea. The MSoft folks and some others would like to eliminate the hardware BIOS and control all the hardware functions from the OS. That way they can have full control of what is permitted and what isn't. It read of this at least two years ago. The boosters of this movement hawk it as simplifying and streamlining the entire process. In truth it is for more control. DRM would be fully embedded in the OS. There would still be EEFPROM on the board. It would be controlled by the OS instead of being OS independent. Hope my memory is fairly accurate here. If someone else knows what I refer to jump in.
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I'd guess at least 7 years or more.
I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you peanut.
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I can't think of any advantage to flashing the bios from within windows. I would much rather do it from the good old reliable DOS. :-)
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To be frank, I am more of an OEM person that haven't built computers from scratch nor flashed BIOS since the mid 90'. I guess I need to keep myself abreast with this thing :-)
i_Xp/VistaUser
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I'm with you XpUser. I can't remember when I last flashed a bios, but I suspect it was in the early 90s. I suspect that 99% of the bios flashes that are done are a waste of time or worse.
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The WinFlash method has been around for quite a while but IMO, the old school DOS method is safer. I always update the BIOS on my own systems & often do it to machines I'm working on.
The ECS board in my backup machine is flashed with a BIOSTAR BIOS. The BIOSTAR BIOS has numerous options not available in the ECS version & has allowed me to overclock my A64 3000+ from 2.0GHz to 2.5GHz+...that wouldn't have been possible with the ECS version. I've had no problems & the system is 100% stable.
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ahhhhhhh flashing a bios is a bit like brain surgery with a rusty implement. its risky no matter how you look at it. where has every one got this idea that the bios should be flashed??!?!? flashing bios in my opinion is a last resort and thats when the hardwear is old and just about to be replaced.
as for doing it in a os no no no. the reason we do it from boot disk or in the bios is to minimize things that can go wrong. and now dell have put a bug ridden os in the way or the operation. even worse they have made it easy. i say go back to the good old days.make it inacessable to the layman.all text needs typos. There there for the reader to find,to distract them from the total lack of content.
google it! wasnt the answer to the question i asked so dont be dense and give me that repl
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jam,
I agree that the old school DOS method is safer. It always is. But when the OEM started to sell preinstalled Windows desktops without floppy drives, I wondered how the heck can someone do BIOS flashing, not to mention booting in to fix Windows as we always have in the old days. I thought the only way was burn the BIOS-destinated files to CD then boot to it. Now there's this Winflash method, oh well...
i_Xp/VistaUser
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