Can I update BIOS with a USB if I don't have floppy drive??

[vesh88]

Heya! First of all I've never updated BIOS before and I know it can be a risky thing but I have had too many crashes lately and seems that updating the BIOS could fix the problem.
I used BIOSagent plus to check what BIOS I have and I have gone to the manufacturers website and these are the instructions on updating - Universal abit > Motherboard, Digital Speakers, iDome, AirPace, Multimedia
Now there it says to use a floppy but I do not have a floppy drive so could I be able to extract the files to a USB stick instead and use the USB stick as first boot device????
Also step 7 on those instructions, is that a command to type in somewhere or would that be a file I would have to click on???
Thanks

 

[A Guy]

Read the bottom of this page, see if that will be what you need:

Flash Bios From USB

Just in general terms it can be done. Specifically, not for every MB/BIOS. A Guy

 

[Zomby88]

I`m sorry but who is the manufactuer ? Dells and HPs can be done from within windows.

 

[thefabe]

Welcome To Seven Forums. It looks like you have an Abit? If you would please take the time to fill in your system specs.
Top of page>user CP scroll down left hand side edit system specs and fill them in it will help a lot.
If you have a cd drive you can also flash the bios from thier. Here is a tutorial using Nero 6 How to create a botable Bios iso image file How To Create a Bootable BIOS ISO Image File. If we can get your exact model # we can check and see how abit suggest to go about flashing your bios, it is something you don't want to do wrong or your system will definetly be buggered. Thanks. Fabe

 

[Bill2]

1) Best to flash windows using an external device like CD, floppy or USB flash drive, rather than from within windows. Flashing with a flash drive is a breeze. You need to make a bootable one using a tool like the HP format utility. This tutorial will walk you through.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/46707-ms-dos-bootable-flash-drive-create.html

2) The usb flash drive should be set as the first boot device in the bios.

3) Copy the files for your bios to the bootable flash drive (after downloading from the manufacturer's website and extracting the individual files from the zip or exe).

4) Then boot from the flash drive. You'll get a command prompt like A:\> (as shown in the picture). Then type the command for your SPECIFIC bios EXACTLY as required and hit Enter. If you goof here, theres a good chance, the mobo will get bricked.

5) If you provide more info about your system specs and bios, as Eric advised, we'll be able to help you more.

 

[vesh88]

Sorry for the late reply guys. Heres screenshots I took from biosagent plus and cpu z to help you with my specs

 

[Bill2]

Ok, here you go.

1) You have an ABIT IP-95 motherboard with an AMI bios M618ZF10 which is the old 2006 bios. Go to this page:

Universal abit > Motherboard, Digital Speakers, iDome, AirPace, Multimedia

Download the file called M618ZF13.zip which is the latest bios for your mobo. Save it to the desktop.

2) Unpack the zip using any free unzipping software like 7z or winrar trial version. It unpacks into a folder containing five files. These include the .bin file which is the actual bios file, AFU408P which is the actual flash utility and Runme.bat which contains instruction on flashing.

3) Copy all the 5 files to the root of the bootable usb flash drive you have ready. Then boot from the flash drive. At the command prompt, type:

runme

Then hit Enter.

4) The page at link on 1) has additional info on what to do after the flash.

Switch off the power supply unit or pull off the power cord. There is a CCMOS jumper near the battery . Change the jumper position from default 1-2 to 2-3 for one minute to discharge the CMOS data, and then put it back to default 1-2. Switch on the power supply unit or pull in the power cord. Press the power-on button to boot up system. If it works, hit " Del " key to enter the BIOS setup page to do correct settings.

 

[ickymay]

1) Best to flash windows using an external device like CD, floppy or USB flash drive, rather than from within windows. Flashing with a flash drive is a breeze. You need to make a bootable one using a tool like the HP format utility. This tutorial will walk you through.

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/46707-ms-dos-bootable-flash-drive-create.html

2) The usb flash drive should be set as the first boot device in the bios.

3) Copy the files for your bios to the bootable flash drive (after downloading from the manufacturer's website and extracting the individual files from the zip or exe).

4) Then boot from the flash drive. You'll get a command prompt like A:\> (as shown in the picture). Then type the command for your SPECIFIC bios EXACTLY as required and hit Enter. If you goof here, theres a good chance, the mobo will get bricked.

5) If you provide more info about your system specs and bios, as Eric advised, we'll be able to help you more.

number 1) is no longer true and the majority of bios upgrades i perform for myself and customers have been done within windows.

number 4) is an example where using an external device can go wrong ?

the majority of problems I have seen with bios flashes in the last 5 years has been user error and this is increased when using external devices with very specific command lines ?

your advice here is very sound but I wonder if your first statement still rings true using todays motherboards and bios ?

 

[Bill2]

Ickymay,

You have a valid point. In the olden days, windows flash programs used to be badly written and flashing within windows was not a good idea. Even these days, you can flash from within windows and run into a problem because of some open programs. The main reason for flashing from DOS is that you can be sure, only one program is running- the flash utility. In windows, with all those services running, something may potentially interfere with the flash process.

I've flashed from within windows too but prefer doing it from DOS.

 

[vesh88]

Hey guys before I try anything, how do I know if my USB stick is a bootable usb?? And if it isn't is there a way to make it a bootable usb???
Thanks

 

[thefabe]

I'm sure this tutorial was posted earlier but it tells you how to make a bootable USB drive.http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html?ltr=U But before we go any further it would be nice if you would go to your user CP and then edit system specs so we know what motherboard were talking about and we can go to the site and check out the bios information they provide in order to give you more clear and precise information. If you need help finding out your system specs you can use any number of programs to find them such as this one http://www.piriform.com/speccy Or |MG| HWiNFO32 3.53-759 Download We are trying to help but you really need to fill in your system specs. Thanks Fabe

 

[vesh88]

I'm sure this tutorial was posted earlier but it tells you how to make a bootable USB drive.http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2432-usb-windows-7-installation-key-drive-create.html?ltr=U But before we go any further it would be nice if you would go to your user CP and then edit system specs so we know what motherboard were talking about and we can go to the site and check out the bios information they provide in order to give you more clear and precise information. If you need help finding out your system specs you can use any number of programs to find them such as this one Speccy - System Information - Free Download Or |MG| HWiNFO32 3.53-759 Download We are trying to help but you really need to fill in your system specs. Thanks Fabe

Hey sorry for the late reply. Thanks for that post. I did screenshots on page 1 with info on what specs my pc has. Right now it doesn't boot up otherwise I would download speccy to make things more easier for me to understand and edit my profile.
I now believe the problem is with the cmos battery as I have been getting a "checksum" error and for a long time now my computer time would change itself, usually reset to 2006 so probably no need for a BIOS update and just a battery change. Seems like a simple thing to do from the manual and I'll keep safe from getting a shock haha.
Once I've changed the battery I will post here how everything goes. Thanks for helping guys!

 

[vesh88]

The battery and video card were the problems so no need to update BIOS but thanks so much to everyone who replied to try and help me I really appreciate that