simple question re bios upgrade

[Romane]

Can anyone positively state whether a bios upgrade will make Vista think
that I have new hardware (and thus need to do the activation thing again)?
Checking the Intel site, there have been quite a number of bios updates
since the board was released around September last year, and since my own
bios version from end of November last year, and many of the updates address
specific Vista issues. Have never had need to do a bios update before, so
understandably wary, but one of the few remaining avenues to possibly
solving the heartaches am having with Vista.

Any other comments on bios upgrading and Vista would also be welcomed, may
perhaps help others having headaches with Vista.

R.

 

[tim]

vista 32 blocks download due to digital signature?


All this it is a printer driver.

http://downloads.lexmark.com/cgi-pe...hLang=en&searchLang=en&os_group=Windows Vista

any ideas?

 

[corbomite]

vista is more picky with hardware changes than xp was....

but Im not sure about the bios...

there is no limit to how many times you can activate on the same machine

its only a chore if you have to do it by phone

 

[Cal Bear '66]

A BIOS update will most likely (if not surely) require re-activation of Vista.
However, in my experience, this was quick, less than 5 minutes, and painless.

When doing a BIOS update, always read and follow the instructions to the letter.
My new computer now even allows me do do BIOS updates from within Windows
itself, before my computers have always required a bootable disk.

 

[corbomite]

less than 5 minutes, and painless

be extremely careful with the bios update.. if one thing goes wrong your
motherboard is fried!!! (unless you have a dual bios type)

it happened to me once and I had to throw away the motherboard.. now I
update bios
ONLY when absolutely necessary!

 

[Cal Bear '66]

The Vista re-activation was quick and painless.

YES -- be very,very careful when doing a BIOS update and carefully read and
follow the instructions to the letter.

 

[Swingman]

in message

Can anyone positively state whether a bios upgrade will make Vista think
that I have new hardware (and thus need to do the activation thing again)?

I can positively state that a bios upgrade to this new Dell M1210 running
Vista Business caused no activation issues whatsoever.

As always, YMMV ...

 

[Adam Albright]

Can anyone positively state whether a bios upgrade will make Vista think
that I have new hardware (and thus need to do the activation thing again)?
Checking the Intel site, there have been quite a number of bios updates
since the board was released around September last year, and since my own
bios version from end of November last year, and many of the updates address
specific Vista issues. Have never had need to do a bios update before, so
understandably wary, but one of the few remaining avenues to possibly
solving the heartaches am having with Vista.

Any other comments on bios upgrading and Vista would also be welcomed, may
perhaps help others having headaches with Vista.

R.

I've flashed my BIOS twice so far on this box with not a peep out of
Vista about reactivation. A BIOS upgrade isn't hardware, it simply
replaced the software that resides in a single chip on your
motherboard giving newer, better instructions. How even the zealots at
Microsoft could stretch that into a "change" in your system requiring
reactivation would be a stretch.

As some will no doubt say doing a BIOS Flash is risky, you never
should do it, blah, blah, blah. Well I must have done a BIOS Flash oh,
maybe a couple dozen times or so over the years and never had a single
problem. That said, don't take it lightly. Don't do a BIOS upgrade
just because there happens to be one. Only do it if you have a REASON,
like something isn't working right.

Is it safe? Oh about 99.9% of the time. About the only major risk is
if your power happens to go out during the minute or so the flash
takes to upgrade the BIOS. Even if that would happen chances are you
could if necessary get a new BIOS chip with little problem and most
motherboards use a socket ed chip that's easy enough to replace.

If you're still worried, many BIOS makers like Award have some
Internet Flash option you can access from your MB's web site to make
the process even simpler.

 

[Spirit]

Upgraged BIOS on this lappie, Toshiba P205-6267, with no issue.

 

[Richard G. Harper]

I can positively state that it's entirely possible. But even if it's a
certainty, there's no need to worry about it. Vista will ask to be
re-activated and at worst you make a simple phone call to get it
re-activated. No problem, have done this myself.

--
Richard G. Harper [MVP Shell/User] (e-mail address removed)
* NEW! Catch my blog ... http://msmvps.com/blogs/rgharper/
* PLEASE post all messages and replies in the newsgroups
* The Website - http://rgharper.mvps.org/
* HELP us help YOU ... http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

 

[Richard Urban]

I can positively state that a bios upgrade may, or it may not, make Vista
think that you have new hardware!

You don't know what the effect will be until you flash the bios.

--


Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
(For email, remove the obvious from my address)

 

[Romane]

vista is more picky with hardware changes than xp was....

but Im not sure about the bios...

there is no limit to how many times you can activate on the same machine

its only a chore if you have to do it by phone

It's not the activation bit, its the 'by phone' bit that worries me in this
country. Haven't had to do it myself, and it has been a couple of years
since had any contact with those who have, but every one of them had bitter
complaints about wait times of from two to three hours before even getting
to speak to anyone. At STD rates, that can turn into one very expensive
phone call. If it comes down to it and I have to phone, I can only hope that
the service has improved and my fears prove unfounded.

R.

 

[Romane]

Many thanks to everyone for the replies. It is good to have reinforced the
need for care.

Have downloaded the latest update - they have one that starts in Windows
and then shuts the computer down for a reboot, then flashes the BIOS, then
another reboot back into Windows.. Have followed all the links to release
notes and anything else, printed them out. I still have a couple of updated
drivers to try out first, and need to talk to nVidia about some issues I am
having with their latest driver, before attempt flashing.

Looking at the updates that Intel have made since my BIOS date of 27
November last year, there have been 10 updates, and many of the changes have
been to do with Vista, so if the drivers fail to resolve all my main issues
(it is recognised that there will always be some small ones), then will try
flashing and report back the result.

R.

 

[Pulse]

Hi

I have updated the BIOS twice since I boyght this computer and it has made
absoultely no differnce to activation, still appears as a healthy ACTIVATED
Vista

Hope that helps

V

 

[justbob30]

I have done 2 bios updates (dell) no issue, I did update the SATA /Raid
drivers and had to re activate. This was not so much a problem as a minor
annoyance.

 

[grege]

I've upgraded my New Toshiba laptop BIOS 4 times over two months and it
hasn't effected activation yet.