- What the BIOS Is and What It Does
- When a BIOS Update Is Necessary
- How BIOS Updates Are Performed
- Where BIOS Updates Come From
- Precautions to Take Before Updating a BIOS
- How to Recover from a Failed BIOS Update Procedure
- Plug-and-Play BIOS
- Other BIOS Troubleshooting Tips
- Soft BIOS CPU Speed and Multiplier Settings
- Determining Which BIOS You Have
- Determining the Motherboard Manufacturer for BIOS Upgrades
- Accessing the BIOS Setup Programs
- How the BIOS Reports Errors
- Microid Research Beep Codes
- Other BIOS and Motherboard Manufacturers' Beep and POST Codes
- Reading BIOS Error Codes
- BIOS Configuration Worksheet
When a BIOS Update Is Necessary
The following list shows the primary benefits of a ROM BIOS upgrade:
Adds LS-120 (120MB) floppy drive support (also known as a SuperDisk drive)
Adds support for other ATAPI removable drives, such as Iomega Zip drives
Adds support for hard drives greater than 8.4GB
Adds support for Ultra-DMA/33, UDMA/66, UDMA/100, or faster IDE hard drives
Adds support for bootable ATAPI CD-ROM drives (El Torito)
Adds or improves Plug-and-Play support and compatibility
Corrects calendar-related bugs
Corrects known bugs or compatibility problems with certain hardware and software
Adds support for newer or faster processors
In general, if your computer is incapable of using all the features of new software or hardware, you might need a BIOS upgrade.
Specific Tests to Determine Whether Your BIOS Needs an Update
To determine whether your BIOS needs to be updated because of hard drive capacity limitations, see Chapter 4, "SCSI and ATA Hard Drives and Optical Drives."
To determine whether your BIOS needs to be updated because of operating system or CPU upgrade issues, consult the technical- support Web sites for the operating system or CPU upgrade.
Fixing BIOS LimitationsBIOS Fixes and Alternatives
Use Table 3.1 to determine which options you can follow if a BIOS update isn't possible, depending on the BIOS problem noted.
Table 3.1 Alternatives to BIOS Upgrades
Problem |
Alternative Fix |
Benefits of Alternative Fix |
Limitations of Alternative Fix |
IDE hard disk capacity limitations |
See Chapter 4 for details of these fixes. |
|
|
Complete solution |
Replace motherboard. |
Provides both brandnew BIOS and new motherboard features at a price often just slightly higher than a third-party BIOS upgrade. |
System must use standard MB form factor. Mix of ISA and PCI/AGP slots might mean some existing cards won't fit because latest motherboards have more PCI than ISA slots. Time-consuming hardware install; time-consuming redetection and configuration of hardware drivers in operating system. |