Acer Aspire 1642z BIOS Update problem

Acer Aspire 1642z BIOS Update problem

Hi

I recently got this this laptop to fix as it was infested with viruses, I repartitioned and formated the harddrive, installed XP SP2, Sweet.

I thought I would update the BIOS prior to installing XP SP3. After flashing the BIOS using Acer PHLASH utility and BIOS version 3A24 on re booting the laptop produces a POST error code of one long and two short beeps - DA DIT DIT for those in the know the screen is blank, though the OS starts up and is running.

I have tried using some of the suggestions elsewhere, booting from USB or FDD and trying to install an earlier version of the BIOS - no luck to date

Would it be possible to completely blank the BIOS somehow, the CDROM is still the first boot device can I use this to flash?

Any comments and or suggestions would be appreciated.
TIA