Hi, I'm currently updating my computer, ran a few benchmarking programs, and it said the BIOS for video and system were too old. How do I update them?? It's a compaq and ATI Rage card. Also, what is a SMBIOS?

From what I've experienced, updating one's BIOS is a fairly complicated matter. It requires one to go to their Mfgr's website, download the correct updated BIOS to the desktop, and somewhere in the process one must make download a folder that has some files in it for running in MS-DOS so then one can run and install the updated BIOS. I believe running the MS-DOS works while Windows is running in the background, just shutdown your AV first. After MS-DOS is prepared for running the BIOS.exe, the rest fairly simple. Also I believe that all laptops must have a battery and AC in use when installing the actual BIOS, as any loss in power during the install will permanently (I think it was) mess up the motherboard. Best of luck, it isn't ll that difficult, just a bit complicated. Regards and hap' e-trails, Steve Hopper

That message may or may not have any relevance to your system. If all your hardware is supported there is no reason to update your BIOS. Graphics BIOS isn't something you should normally flash. Are you sure the message wasn't referring to the video drivers. Updating drivers is something that may improve performance. Usually the reason for updated drivers has more to do with problems with the current driver set than anything else. Users report issues that need to be addressed. That also goes for the BIOS.

SMBIOS is the System Management BIOS. It is an extension to the main BIOS for System management. See: http://www.dmtf.org/standards/smbios Just one more thing. Updating the BIOS with Windows running in the background is an almost sure fire guaranteed way to screw your system completely. Updating the BIOS requires booting to DOS and only DOS. Nothing else, no memory manager, nor TSRs, nothing. In fact most BIOS updating programmes will refuse to run if it detects that Windows is loaded. If the BIOS update is interrupted, and Windows running the background could do that, the update will get corrupted and you will need a new BIOS chip. Stuart

Since it's a compaq you may want to go to the compaq page for your particular model. The Rompaq is what compaq calls their bios upgrade. I wouldn't let a benchmark program determine whether or not a bios upgrade is needed. Most likely all the benchmark program did was compare the bios creation date with the current date and decided on that basis that it was old. Generally you'd look for a bios upgrade if your current one has a problem that the upgrade will fix or if you need support for a larger HD. Often a help file will list the fixes in the newer bios.

The program advising him to upgrade is probably the ad that runs on this site occasionally. I ran it and it says that I need a whole bunch of upgrades including both mb bios and video bios. It apparently checks for the presence of several upgraded features. On my 1996 laptop the results were a real laugh. Even recommended a hard drive upgrade. I think they were trying to sell driver upgrades.

Yeah, it doesn't seem like a benchmark program would know if the computer's functioning would improve by an update. There's just too many variables involved.