Dell Bios Update Slows Down Boot up.

[RustedMetal]

I had gone to the Dell site and downloaded urgent software under Drivers and Updates for my laptop but the Bios update that i had downloaded makes the boot-up process much slower compared to the one prior to the download. The question is can i uninstall bios updates or how will i be able to go about this? What about another clean install of Win7, will that work? Thanks.

 

[samuria]

When you update the bios in most cases you have to remove the cmos battery or clear the cmos or the update wont work

 

[dg1261]

The question is can i uninstall bios updates or how will i be able to go about this? What about another clean install of Win7, will that work?

You cannot "uninstall" a BIOS update, you have to overwrite it with an older version. And clean installing the OS will have no effect on your BIOS.

The slowdown may be due to the Spectre/Meltdown mitigations added to the BIOS firmware. Those have been known to have a noticeable performance impact, especially on CPUs of a certain age (such as the early generations of the Intel Core-i series).

Visit the Dell website and find an earlier BIOS version. If you don't remember which version you used to have, pick the most recent version prior to Jan 2018. (Early 2018 is when they started adding Spectre/Meltdown mitigation updates.)

Note some recent firmware updates or BIOSes on some machines have added a BIOS option to "allow firmware downgrade" (or words to that effect), so scroll through your BIOS settings to check if you have that. Otherwise, it may block an attempt to flash an earlier BIOS version.

 

[RustedMetal]

OK, i'll go ahead and see if the bios has the downgrade option, if that doesn't work then i'll go to the dell site to check for the older version. I tried checking for the older version at Dell's already but i don't think i saw it but i'll give it another shot. If that doesn't work then i'll reset the bios. Thanks

 

[flavallee]

RustedMetal:
Which BIOS update version did you install?
What's the 7-character "service tag" number on that Dell?

 

[samuria]

Before you go back to old BIOS you need to be sure it is a BIOS problem not something else

 

[RustedMetal]

RustedMetal:
Which BIOS update version did you install?
What's the 7-character "service tag" number on that Dell?

I'm very sorry for such a late reply but can only work on laptops on sunday and have been leaving software issues for last. This the serveice tag #DCJR3Q1. The Bios version i installed was A10 and i can't seem to find an earlier version at the site. It's also silly but i don't remember what version i was running before the update.

 

[RustedMetal]

You cannot "uninstall" a BIOS update, you have to overwrite it with an older version. And clean installing the OS will have no effect on your BIOS.

The slowdown may be due to the Spectre/Meltdown mitigations added to the BIOS firmware. Those have been known to have a noticeable performance impact, especially on CPUs of a certain age (such as the early generations of the Intel Core-i series).

Visit the Dell website and find an earlier BIOS version. If you don't remember which version you used to have, pick the most recent version prior to Jan 2018. (Early 2018 is when they started adding Spectre/Meltdown mitigation updates.)

Note some recent firmware updates or BIOSes on some machines have added a BIOS option to "allow firmware downgrade" (or words to that effect), so scroll through your BIOS settings to check if you have that. Otherwise, it may block an attempt to flash an earlier BIOS version.

I unfortunately didn't see such option in the Bios screen.