Updated to new BIOS (Acer) for non-windows os..?

hello guys,
so i was telling the acer support guys about my overheating issues, my laptop (acer aspire 5552) get very hot, especially the charger (man, you could fry an egg on it), especially when have full-screen apps open (such as combat arms - game)..

however, they told me to upgrade my BIOS... so i installed it like 10 mins ago and everything went fine, but i cant decide whether it fixed the problem or not...

anyway, i went to the downloads page here: Acer Support: Downloads & Support Documents

if you go to BIOS section, you'll see the latest update, v. 2.13 (the one they told me to update to), it says "Updates empty BIOS SLIC table on non-Windows systems."

if i download it, ill get the exact same file name as the one they gave me a link to..

so my question is, how do i really know that it fixes the heating issues, and it says "for non-windows os", so how does work on windows pc?

thanks a lot

The BIOS SLIC table is used for activation of OEM SLP versions of windows.
System Locked Preinstallation - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Did you install Windows 7 or was it pre-installed by Acer? Have you been prompted to activate windows since you flashed your BIOS?

No, windows 7 was preinstalled by acer and I haven't been asked activate windows. It was like a normal program installation…

Could you be more clear on your explanation please?

Thank you

The big OEM's like Dell, Acer, ASUS, etc, put special code in the BIOS of the laptops and desktops that they sell. It's refereed to as the SLIC table. The code is unique to each manufacturer. In your case Acer added a SLIC table that ID's your laptop as an ACER model X laptop. Microsoft gives them permission to add matching code to their install media. Its called SLP, system locked profile. The Windows 7 installed by Acer looks for the BIOS SLIC table, if its there, activation is automatic. If it isn't there activation fails. Only Windows uses the SLIC table, so its not required by other operating systems. If you bought the same PC and it didn't come with windows pre-installed the BIOS likely wouldn't have the SLIC table. I wasn't sure what this meant?

"Updates empty BIOS SLIC table on non-Windows systems."

If that BIOS file has an empty SLIC table you will brake your windows activation. Originally I had thought that you already flashed with that file, but it looks like you are wondering if its the same one you already used. I personally wouldn't use it. I'd stay with the one they linked you to in the first place.

Anyway, if you look around on Acers web site. In the same section that you downloaded your BIOS file, you should see a change log for your BIOS update. It may have even come with it in the download. It should list what was fixed or changed by that BIOS update. You may have to look at the last couple of updates to see everything that was fixed since your original BIOS.

Whether it fixes your heating problem, I'm doubtful. I think their suggestion was just a canned response to your question. Only time will tell though.

What I understand is you already flashed the bios to v. 2.13 from the link Acer support gave you and that is also exactly the latest bios file available for your model on their website. You can check what version you have by clicking on Start orb, type msinfo32 in the box and hit Enter. Note down the bios details.

Indeed theres no changelog available for this version so alphanumeric is correct that this was just a canned response (optimism at its best) and theres no assurance that your heat issue will be mitigated.

As for that description "updates empty bios slic table on non windows systems", i would say its a generalized, legacy description- Acer probably bundled this bios with win7 upgrade disks that it initially provided to customers (with earlier versions of windows or other OSs, hence non-windows), it would add a slic table so acer upgrade disks would activate offline.

@alphanumeric, thanks a lot for the explaination, it all makes sense now..
i was also doubtful about the fix, because when i first opened a chat session with the customer service worker, it told her about my problem, and i told her that i heard flashing the BIOS may fix it, and the way she told me to update it, i knew it wasnt real. i asked her if this update was general or specially made to fix overheating problems, she said that it fixes overheating problems and battery issues.

so as soon as i rebooted after flashing, i instantly noticed that there was no change in the machine performance, so i started another chat session, and the worker this time just told me to reinstall windows, because "conflicts between porgrams" causes overheating (which is totally not true because she apparently had no fix).

i also asked her if it didnt work, what should i do, she just said that i'll have to send it for repair..

ill see how it goes, sorry for the long paragraphs.. thanks for the tips!

also, im afraid they dont have a change log for their BIOS updates.

look at this topic: Description of Acer BIOS updates?

ManGFx64 said:

also, im afraid they dont have a change log for their BIOS updates.

look at this topic: Description of Acer BIOS updates?

Click to expand...

Yeah, I noticed that too, I just went looking for the latest BIOS for my fathers Acer laptop and noticed next to no info on what the BIOS update was for? I guess they like to keep you guessing.