How do i Update my BIOS

[jordan23]

Hi guys, im having trouble running seven 64bit with 4GB of ram, i searched on google and found out some other people with my mother board have the same problem with 64 bit operating systems, i looked on the website for any recent drivers, and i saw they did have alot of recent ones for windows 7 64 bit, i also saw they had a BIOS update which read "Fixed system report incorrect memory size when install 4G memory." i can only assume this will fix the problem, but im worried about updating the BIOS just from hearing that it can be potentially damaging, how would i go about doing this in the safest way possible?

here is my motherboard's website: MSI Global – Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

and here are my system specs:

OS: Windows 7 64Bit
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo CPU E8400 3.0GHZ
Motherboard: MSI G31M3 V2 (MS-7529)
Memory: 4GB
Graphics Card: GeForce 7600
Sound Card: Creative SB0312 Audigy LS Sound Card
Monitor: Acer AL1916W
Hard Drive: Seagate 500GB

 

[Night Hawk]

When going to update the bios on any board usually only when a problem is being seen not simply just toss the latest on because it's newer you first review the board's own user manual for the instructions seen there. Some boards have an online option for direct updating seen at post time.

Many updates will be the Winflash type where you simply download the update and run it while booted in Windows. The old days of booting up from a 3 1/2" floppy disk and making sure to copy one particular file onto the root of the hard drive as well as on the floppy are gone.

That's where you had to type the new name exactly by type "old version - ren - new version" without the dashes of course. The "ren" stood for the rename command. First looking over information on how to backup the present bios is advised for most and especially for someone who has never flashed a bios or run any bios updates. In case of any mishap with the newer version the old one can be restored.

 

[thefabe]

It appears on the link you provided that you can update your bios by clicking on the Live update circle at the bottom of the page. Like Night Hawk made reference to above you should only update your bios after reviewing exactly what the updated bios fix addresses. If it is something that you need then update it. Follow the sites update guide.

 

[jordan23]

hey guys thanks for the replies, yea i just noticed that live update thing at the bottom, i installed it, and it gives me the BIOS update in a setup install file, do you guys think i should run it? or do it manually?

 

[Tews]

Unless you know PRECISELY what you're doing, flashing a bios is best left for someone who has done it before.. It is so easy to totally bork your system as to make it useless, and unrecoverable.. Are you updating it because there is a problem, or just because its available??

 

[septprince]

ya you have to run it if you wanna update your bios.

 

[jordan23]

hey guys thanks again! it worked! i updated the BIOS and the drivers, im running windows 7 64bit on 4gb of ram, everything is even faster now, you guys are the best!

 

[Night Hawk]

The setup file you downloaded was typical of the WinFlash type you run while booted in Windows not off of any bootable media. Generally those tend to go on easy without fuss as long as the download is intact and Windows is running good.

Getting familiar with any options to backup an existing bios version however before updating is simply a good idea just in case something stalls on you while newer boards are much easier to update.

Just the same I'm glad to see you got it on ok!

 

[jordan23]

The setup file you downloaded was typical of the WinFlash type you run while booted in Windows not off of any bootable media. Generally those tend to go on easy without fuss as long as the download is intact and Windows is running good.

Getting familiar with any options to backup an existing bios version however before updating is simply a good idea just in case something stalls on you while newer boards are much easier to update.

Just the same I'm glad to see you got it on ok!

thanks!

 

[Teell]

I am having a similar problem but things went totally south. I did the live update because of the memory not being read correctly. saw this post and was glad to see that live update could be used through 64 bit. only problem is I did the winflash update and now i'm stuck at the MSI 870A-G54 screen that comes up before the post screen when I boot. It did reset itself once and posted with a "CMOS 'something' BAD MENU" at the bottom of the screen and asked to run setup or run defaults and continue.

New Addition: Just happened the screen went away and started flashing a cursor in top left corner of a black screen then went to a boot manager to load windows. This process took about 6 minutes in total to get to all of this. Curious if I will be having to do this for the rest of my time with this computer. I have tried this multiple times now and every time it takes about 3-6 minutes then sends me to a black screen with grey writing asking for a boot device and only allows me to boot windows 7. attempting to escape only sends me back to the screen before post and starts the process over again.

after i do get through the boot process that feels like it takes forever, the system does work fine. I just reformatted my computer about 2 days ago so if the only way to solve this is to reformat then thats what I will do. If rolling back the bios is a possibility, information on how to do that would be great.

 

[alphanumeric]

First off welcome to the windows Seven forums.
Second, you will get better results starting a new thread instead of bumping a year old one.
It has been my experience that flashing your BIOS resets all the settings to factory defaults. They may even be the Failsafe Defaults, which can hurt performance. My advice would be to go though all your BIOS settings, especially the boot order, and set it back to optimized settings.

 

[Teell]

i was starting to get that feeling about the posting haha. read the rules but wasn't sure on the procedure for problems already apparent in the forums.

Let me make sure I know what I am talking about first. The setup screen that can be entered after the BIOS posts is the CMOS correct? if that is the case the BIOS does not post it, merely moves straight to booting windows. I have tried entering into the CMOS to return it to optimized but none of the keys that lead me there work. boot manager is f8, setup is f1 which usually gets me there but that doesnt work, delete doesnt do it either. So the whole point i'm trying to make is that i cannot return to optimized settings because i cannot get back to the setup screen to do it. is there another way to get there.

 

[wullthebull]

is there a clear cmos pins on the motherboard could try that to see if it resets bios to defaults that looks like a new system as its got usb3 on it ,why?? did you have to try to update the bios ???

 

[alphanumeric]

Technically speaking CMOS refers to the "type" of semiconductor chip that the BIOS code is stored in. To most people though they mean the same thing, the menu system you go into to setup the motherboard. They are pretty well used interchangeably these days. Sometimes it can be problematic getting into the BIOS with a USB keyboard. There is a setting in the BIOS that enables this function. It will be labeled something like "USB legacy support". It's default setting should be "Enabled", so if you reset the BIOS settings to defaults your USB keyboard should get you in. To do that you need to power down the PC and locate the BIOS reset jumper, it may also be refereed to as the clear CMOS jumper. The motherboard manual should explain where it is and how to use it. Just make sure the PC is off and the AC power is unplugged when you do it, and make sure you put it back to its original position before you power up again. If you using a PS2 keyboard you shouldn't have to reset the BIOS to get in but I might do it anyway. It won't make things any worse. If you don't have a PS2 keyboard and still can't get into the BIOS after reseting it you may have to borrow one. One thing you can try before that is holding down a key on your keyboard while the PC boots up. You should hear a long series of beeps and this should produce a keyboard error with a "Press F1" to run setup prompt. I do this when I don't know what the key is to enter the BIOS is and it works most of the time. If you try all that and still can't access your BIOS settings screen post back and we'll go from there. From what you have posted so far it sounds like you may have gotten a bad flash, which could be really bad news.

 

[Teell]

thanks for the ideas. ill try them all out post back to see if any of those help out.

 

[Night Hawk]

Welcome to SF! Teell On most newer boards simply removing the battery out of the holder for a good half minute or longer is all you will need to clear the cmos. Even with a usb keyboard the bios setup is accessible while some boards will require a ps/2 model for use of the F keys for things like bringing up the EZ Flash or online bios update options.

The MSI product page for the model board you have in your specs is seen at MSI USA – Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

You should review the board's manual for the bios setup in Section # 3-1. You can download that as well on the page at MSI Global – Computer, Laptop, Notebook, Desktop, Mainboard, Graphics and more

The question I have for you is on memory not being read correctly like DDR3 1333 running at 1066? The problem isn't a need for any bios update but the voltage the present memory runs at. That model boards runs 1.5v dimms at 1333 the same as what I ran into on the new build here with DDR3 1600 memory running at 1333 due to the first pair of dimms being 1.9v abd ended up backclocked down to that speed in order to run at the correct voltage.

A look at the specifications of the memory itself to what the dimms run normally at will show if you have the correct memory installed.

 

[Teell]

ok well i have some new updates for everyone that is attempting to assist me. Just want to mention i truly appreciate it.

I did the reset of the BIOS with the jumper and everything looked like it went swimmingly. reset to optimal defaults and got into windows. problem now is that it still will not let me load the BIOS page when the computer restarts and now windows thinks that this copy of windows is a fraud and it will not accept the cd key i'm using, which should not be the case. everything on this computer is legitimate. the way i fixed this last time, because i am using an upgrade to home premium version, was to install a fresh version of vista and then i installed the upgrade. Note to make is that the BIOS issue was not a problem last time i did the reformat. I am now curious if i clear the BIOS one more time and then did a fresh install of vista and upgraded to 7 like i did last time, should that solve the BIOS issue or is this board kinda screwed eternally?

NOTE: still using the USB keyboard but everything else works on it except getting to BIOS. I can get to the Boot Manager, i can get to the windows repair screen, just CANNOT get to the bios setup page. apparently its the DEL button that gets me there but it does not seem to be working.

Anymore info would be fantastic guys. Thanks again.

New Addition: Cleared the BIOS and now it loads with a "CMOS Settings Wrong" amidst the BIOS Post. Mind you that if do choose to click "f1", run setup, and set the BIOS back to optimized defaults, the system goes back to the way it was. reads everything on the computer correctly though. it is still BIOS version 17.6 versus 17.5 which is the one i started with on this rig. I thought that clearing the CMOS would eliminate that update?

New...New Addition: Hurray hurray hurrah! everything is working! EXCEPT for the windows problem. still does not see the product i have as being genuine. any thoughts? being that the system is working again at least i am more inclined to cut my loses with performing a task I do not understand and just reformatting one more time. figure it can't do anymore damage than i had initially caused.

Newest of the New Additions: AHAHAHHAAHAHAHHAHA! its alive...ITS ALIVE AHAHAHAH! without the reformat it works exceptionally. Windows is running correctly and the bios is loading properly and everything. Thank you Alpha and Hawk! You guys have been so helpful.

 

[Night Hawk]

Apparently the only thing you can do now is rediscover which settings had been changed in the bios before restoring everything back to the defaults and call into MS to have the present installation reactivated since everything in Windows is working besides that being seen.

That would solve the problem stemming from Windows thinking there was a hardware change while it was a bios setting like going from AHCI to ide or some other setting there. Before calling in however make sure you have all settings like non Plug'nPlay set to PnP as well as OS2 enabled in there as well as all other settings.

The main thing however was seeing everything working again. With the new build here I have to keep a second keyboard plugged in just to bring up the boot device menu being an F key while the last build brought that up with the usb keyboard still in use. Different make of board and despite USB 3. and Sata III ports is still outdated as far as that?

 

[Teell]

hey ok the activation thing is not working as well as I thought. i upgraded my vista business (my legal copy) to windows 7 home premium with an upgrade (legal copy). Upon installing the new OS it did say that a direct upgrade could not be done but a custom install or total erasing of the HDD could be done and then use the product key from windows 7 and it would work. I did that and now after all the hassle with the BIOS, windows 7 is not authorized. any thoughts?

New Addition: i appear to have found the solution to the problem. I need professional in order to upgrade from vista to windows 7 due to the business not being able to upgraded to home premium period. that is kind of a shame but still cheaper for me in the long run because i am a student. this also means that my ma can use this upgrade so that is a positive in itself. well once again thanks for your help. This forum is a gold mine and it is thanks to the admins as well as those that just know what they are doing posting on here that helped me out so much.

 

[Night Hawk]

Just as a reference you may to review the guide for the upgrade paths when going to install 7. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/1818-upgrade-install-windows-7-a.html