Motherboard BIOS Question...

[CommodoreRed]

I know the mobo I am about to install has issues with it's BIOS version. Now ive done BIOS updates before, but not making a new full rig. I have the newest chipset bios on floppy (yes a floppy! =) now wondering when I first turn on my new rig and check BIOS and settings, should I run the new BIOS version on the floppy I made (yes disable flashwrite protect then get it loaded and reboot and enable) will that work? Or do I need the OS (Windows xp pro in my case) to be installed first? Just some issues with RAM compatability and things with this old BIOS version mobo comes with. Would like get newest BIOS up before going further in installation (OS, HDD partitioning) but not sure if thats correct thing to do or not. Thanks.

 

[Crashman]

You don't need anything but a running system with a floppy drive to update BIOS. Oh, yes, you need the keyboard too, systems will run without one but you'd have a hard time typing commands...

 

[CommodoreRed]

Okay, just making sure it's alright to update BIOS right away as it first boots up before going further and without an OS.

 

[INeedCache]

If you want to wait until Windows is installed, depending on which motherboard you have, you may be able to update the BIOS thru Windows. Check your motherboard documentation or website. There is no advantage to flashing the BIOS immediately before an OS is loaded, unless you have an older board that had BIOS issues with certain hardware already.

 

[Crashman]

Yes, you're supposed to boot off a bootable floppy to do the BIOS update. Some companies have a bootable floppy extractor, others require you to make your own bootable floppy. This is best done with a Win9x system using format /s And if you don't have a program that creats the bootable floppy nor a Win9x system, it can be done from a Windows 98 bootable CD, where the "format" command is in the "win98" directory.