Which BIOS update, DOS or OTHER?

[Dan]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but hardly my 1st & better safe than
sorry. I built a PC in July using an ASUS P5B MOBO. I want to update the
bios. I see on the Asus site
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us they list 2
dl'able bios updates, DOS & OTHER. I'm assuming that, although the PC is
running XP not DOS, I should install the DOS version. Is this correct?

This is the 1st time I have updated the BIOS on a PC. If anyone has any
other helpful hints about the process, I'm all ears.

TIA

Dan

 

[Jim]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but hardly my 1st & better safe than
sorry. I built a PC in July using an ASUS P5B MOBO. I want to update the
bios. I see on the Asus site
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us they list 2
dl'able bios updates, DOS & OTHER. I'm assuming that, although the PC is
running XP not DOS, I should install the DOS version. Is this correct? No

This is the 1st time I have updated the BIOS on a PC. If anyone has any
other helpful hints about the process, I'm all ears.

TIA

Dan

What they mean is the mechanism for installing the update. The BIOS knows
nothing about which operating system is doing the evil deed.
I would not update the BIOS unless there is some problem that the update
solves. My reason is that even the slightest and most trivial of problems
can render the motherboard useless.
Jim

 

[Dan]

What they mean is the mechanism for installing the update. The BIOS
knows nothing about which operating system is doing the evil deed.
I would not update the BIOS unless there is some problem that the update
solves. My reason is that even the slightest and most trivial of problems
can render the motherboard useless.
Jim

OH I see! Asus has a windows utility for this, so I guess the option would
be "other". I am having some difficulties, & thought a bios update might be
worth trying. Troubles are as follows: this is a dual boot PC, one copy XP
home, one copy XP pro on a separate hdd, with PRO being a new clean install.
Lately, the machine has been hanging up quite a bit on BOTH os's, typically
(it seems) in association with an internet program, i.e., Firefox, Outlook
Express, or Newsleecher. In fact in PRO,. I can't even get add/remove
programs to remove Firefox. When I click the remove button, the machine
locks. It was terrific at 1st, no problems. I have run virus scans (bit
defender) and Spy Sweeper, I have reviewed the Hijack this logs, nothing is
detected or seems amiss. I always maintain a minimum of resource hogging
background nonsense & services. The BIOS fixes are listed as 1) Enhance
memory compatibility 2) Support CONROE E0 CPU(FSB 1333). Cpu is a Core Duo.
Thought it would be worth a shot. Any other input greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the prompt reply.

Dan

 

[peter]

Problems like you describe are NOT BIOS related
peter>

 

[Dan]

Problems like you describe are NOT BIOS related
peter>

Do you have an opinion on what they may be?

 

[Rock]

I'm sure this is a stupid question, but hardly my 1st & better safe than
sorry. I built a PC in July using an ASUS P5B MOBO. I want to update the
bios. I see on the Asus site
http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us they list 2
dl'able bios updates, DOS & OTHER. I'm assuming that, although the PC is
running XP not DOS, I should install the DOS version. Is this correct?

This is the 1st time I have updated the BIOS on a PC. If anyone has any
other helpful hints about the process, I'm all ears.

Dan, it's not a stupid question, but it's not an XP OS question. This
should be asked in a hardware newsgroup.

 

[Dan]

Dan, it's not a stupid question, but it's not an XP OS question. This
should be asked in a hardware newsgroup.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

Do you have an opinion on what they may be?

It is impossible for the BIOS to cause a problem such as
preventing you from running Add/Remove Programs. You're
dealing with a Windows problem, and trying to resolve it
with a BIOS upgrade is dangerous (as other people have
said) and is extremely unlikely to work.

The usual method in such cases is to use System Restore
to go back to a point well before the problem occurred.
If this is not an option then a complete reload of Windows
to a freshly formatted partition will do the trick. When
finished, use an imaging product to save your system
partition so that you don't have to reload Windows if/when
it happens again. Note that these problems are invariably
caused by third-party products that you install on your
machine. Those of my clients who have a strict policy
about software installations run their PCs year in year out
without any problems.

To create an image of your system drive you could use
Acronis TrueImage. Version 7 is now freely available
from here: http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI.

 

[Noncompliant]

Am of the opinion to use the dos version only if that's available. There's
less that can go wrong. If using msdos, the only files on such a boot
floppy/CD would be io.sys, msdos.sys, and command.com. Plus the needed bios
update program and source file for the update.

If you have a dual bios, use some common sense, setup to only update one.
Allowing you to recover if its botches.

 

[Dan]

It is impossible for the BIOS to cause a problem such as
preventing you from running Add/Remove Programs. You're
dealing with a Windows problem, and trying to resolve it
with a BIOS upgrade is dangerous (as other people have
said) and is extremely unlikely to work.

The usual method in such cases is to use System Restore
to go back to a point well before the problem occurred.
If this is not an option then a complete reload of Windows
to a freshly formatted partition will do the trick. When
finished, use an imaging product to save your system
partition so that you don't have to reload Windows if/when
it happens again. Note that these problems are invariably
caused by third-party products that you install on your
machine. Those of my clients who have a strict policy
about software installations run their PCs year in year out
without any problems.

To create an image of your system drive you could use
Acronis TrueImage. Version 7 is now freely available
from here: http://www.acronis.com/mag/DVhbcjdI.

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, the problems have been building
slowly, so there is no clear cut point I know of before which they occured.
Again, they extend intermitantly on TWO os's on seperate hdd's. The XP Pro
installation on a 2nd hdd IS fresh, since it also is having trouble, I was
trying to think of things the 2 installs had in common. Hardware & BIOS. I
figured that, although unlikely, BIOS was the easiest to eliminate 1st as a
possibility. One upgrade in the new one appears to be associated with
memory handling. It occured to mne that problems such as program hanging
might be a memory access issue. I guess not? Lastest event, I went to
install Norton IS 2007 on this 2nd PRO installation. Went through the whole
process, dl'd updates, called to reboot after updates, now I can't get into
that OS at all. Not with "last known good config", not with "safe mode".
I'm preparing to format the partion & load AGAIN.

If anyone can suggest any hardware issues that might be a factor here & how
to check them, I'd appreciate it.

Dan

 

[Dan]

Thanka for the suggestion, I can't get the link to work. All I see on the
site is True Image 9.1 & 10, neither of which is free of charge, if that's
what you meant by "freely available". ??

Dan

 

[...winston]

: Thanks for the suggestion, I can't get the link to work. All I see on the
: site is True Image 9.1 & 10, neither of which is free of charge, if that's
: what you meant by "freely available". ??


As far as I know, it is no longer available. For a time Acronis had an offer to download version 7 for free after registration. Here was the link.
www.acronis.com/mag/vnu-ati7

It now results in 'offer no longer available'

..winston