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- Mar 1, 2010
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| System Name | Benny |
|---|---|
| Processor | Phenom II 1055t @ 3.3GHz; 300x11; 1.380v; NB 2700; HT 2400 |
| Motherboard | ASUS Crosshair IV Formula (2002 BIOS) |
| Cooling | Thermalright TRUE 120 Black + 2 Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm (push/pull) + polycarbonate fan holders |
| Memory | 8GB GeIL Ultra 2133MHZ C9 running at 1600MHz @ 7-7-7-21 1T 1.5v |
| Video Card(s) | MSI Twin Frozr II GTX470 @ Stock w/CPU fan cable-tied on, as one of the GPU fans broke. |
| Storage | 60GB OCZ Agility3 (OS);500GB WDC Grn; 1x1TB WDC Blk (Backup) |
| Display(s) | ASUS PA823Q |
| Case | Silverstone Raven 2 (all cables custom sleeved with velcro mod on side panel...) |
| Audio Device(s) | X-Fi (Onboard) + Harmon Kardon HK6100 amp powering JVC HA-RX700's with Zalman mic |
| Power Supply | Corsair HX650W |
| Software | Win7 Pro x64 |
| Benchmark Scores | No benchies so making this space useful! Corsair M90, Logitech G19. Phobya FlexLight LED's (gawjus) |
I've wanted to update the BIOS on a lot of old/OEM motherboards, but I've found that they didn't support flashing the BIOS in Windows, and I've been unable to get a floppy disc/drive. Also, these mobo's didn't support booting from USB.
If you are unable to update your motherboard BIOS through conventional means, you can use this guide to update your BIOS from a bootable CD.
DISCLAIMER: Neither I, nor will techPowerUp! accept any liability for damage to hardware caused by following this guide. Use at your own risk. It is recommended that you make a backup your BIOS first. I've personally tested this app on three mobo's so far with no problems, but your results may vary.
You will need a blank CD-R or a CD-RW. Of course, a CD-RW will be the most attractive option. If you only have a DVD-R or a DVD-RW, that's ok, as you can burn the ISO file on ANY type of disc as long as your optical reader supports it.
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1. Download your new BIOS and make sure it comes with a flashing utility. If it doesn't come with a flashing utility, download the correct flashing utility for your BIOS.
Use Award's flashing utility (AWDFLASH) if you have an Award/Phoenix BIOS.
Use AMI's flashing utility (AMIBIOS) if you have an AMI BIOS.
Etc., etc.
Also, download CreateFlashCD and extract the contents. This is the tool you will be using to make the ISO. You can refer to the Readme file for more information, but I've covered the basics in this guide.
2. Open CreateFlashCD, and you will be shown the screen below. Click the three dots next the "Flash Program" box, seen here:
3. Navigate to where the Flash Program is (the one you downloaded earlier) and select it. Hopefully, it came with your BIOS when you downloaded it. See here:
4. Now, click the three dots next to the "BIOS file" box, and navigate to where your new BIOS file is, seen here:
5. Make a note of the filename as you may need it later. Here it is called W7053IMS.170 - Make sure that the filename is no longer than 8 characters (excluding the extension, in this case the extension is seen as ".170"). If your filename is longer than 8 characters, cancel this window, navigate to where the file is and change the filename to something shorter.
Example:
A good filename is "W7093IMS.180" (8 characters, plus 3 for the extension)
a bad filename is "W7093IMSX.180" (9 characters, plus 3 for the extension)
Repeat step 4 if you had to change the filename, else go to step 6.
6. If you want to add any switches feel free, I'm not going into that here though. After adding any switches, click "Create FlashCD" and choose where to save your ISO, seen here:
7. Close CreateFlashCD and navigate to where you chose to save the ISO. Burn the ISO onto a CD at the slowest speed available using your favourite burning program (I use ImgBurn) seen here:
8. Now, just make sure you're able to boot from CD and away you go. Boot from the CD, and when you're about to begin flashing, just make sure the filename corresponds to the filename I told you to make a note of earlier, and flash.
Done!
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If you use this application, please post here with results so we can get a better idea of the success rate. I'll update the OP with results.
I've successfully used it on:
MSI 925XE Neo Platinum (only flashable by floppy and USB)
Acer Aspire E571 (OEM mobo is MSI MS-7326, only flashable using floppy, doesn't support booting from USB)
ASUS P5KC (Able to flash by other means, just done for testing purposes)
Thanks to JrRacinFan and streetfighter 2 for helping me with this
If you are unable to update your motherboard BIOS through conventional means, you can use this guide to update your BIOS from a bootable CD.
DISCLAIMER: Neither I, nor will techPowerUp! accept any liability for damage to hardware caused by following this guide. Use at your own risk. It is recommended that you make a backup your BIOS first. I've personally tested this app on three mobo's so far with no problems, but your results may vary.
You will need a blank CD-R or a CD-RW. Of course, a CD-RW will be the most attractive option. If you only have a DVD-R or a DVD-RW, that's ok, as you can burn the ISO file on ANY type of disc as long as your optical reader supports it.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Download your new BIOS and make sure it comes with a flashing utility. If it doesn't come with a flashing utility, download the correct flashing utility for your BIOS.
Use Award's flashing utility (AWDFLASH) if you have an Award/Phoenix BIOS.
Use AMI's flashing utility (AMIBIOS) if you have an AMI BIOS.
Etc., etc.
Also, download CreateFlashCD and extract the contents. This is the tool you will be using to make the ISO. You can refer to the Readme file for more information, but I've covered the basics in this guide.
2. Open CreateFlashCD, and you will be shown the screen below. Click the three dots next the "Flash Program" box, seen here:
3. Navigate to where the Flash Program is (the one you downloaded earlier) and select it. Hopefully, it came with your BIOS when you downloaded it. See here:
4. Now, click the three dots next to the "BIOS file" box, and navigate to where your new BIOS file is, seen here:
5. Make a note of the filename as you may need it later. Here it is called W7053IMS.170 - Make sure that the filename is no longer than 8 characters (excluding the extension, in this case the extension is seen as ".170"). If your filename is longer than 8 characters, cancel this window, navigate to where the file is and change the filename to something shorter.
Example:
A good filename is "W7093IMS.180" (8 characters, plus 3 for the extension)
a bad filename is "W7093IMSX.180" (9 characters, plus 3 for the extension)
Repeat step 4 if you had to change the filename, else go to step 6.
6. If you want to add any switches feel free, I'm not going into that here though. After adding any switches, click "Create FlashCD" and choose where to save your ISO, seen here:
7. Close CreateFlashCD and navigate to where you chose to save the ISO. Burn the ISO onto a CD at the slowest speed available using your favourite burning program (I use ImgBurn) seen here:
8. Now, just make sure you're able to boot from CD and away you go. Boot from the CD, and when you're about to begin flashing, just make sure the filename corresponds to the filename I told you to make a note of earlier, and flash.
Done!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you use this application, please post here with results so we can get a better idea of the success rate. I'll update the OP with results.
I've successfully used it on:
MSI 925XE Neo Platinum (only flashable by floppy and USB)
Acer Aspire E571 (OEM mobo is MSI MS-7326, only flashable using floppy, doesn't support booting from USB)
ASUS P5KC (Able to flash by other means, just done for testing purposes)
Thanks to JrRacinFan and streetfighter 2 for helping me with this
Last edited:
