Update The Bios Or Not?

[jimras]

Toshiba sent me a notice that there is an update available for my laptop's BIOS and

gave me a link to download it.

It has always been my feeling that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"

If I'm not having any problems with my laptop and everything is working fine,

then should I ignore this notice or would you upgrade anyway?

Opinions?? Thanks people!!!

jr

Edited June 14, 2009 by jimras

[Pete_C]

I too take the "if it ain't broke why fix it" approach where the bios is concerned.

Although these days updating your bios is often a lot safer than in the past; they have software to update it from within windows so none of this making a pure dos boot floppy and saving the bin file and app flash to it and doing everything in sequence and praying the power does not fail.

Also most bios gives you the option to back it up before you flash and many motherboards now have a "dual bios" where there is one that is permanent and then the flashable configurable one so even if you mess up you can recover.

But I still go with , unless you are having a problem which the bios upgrade addresses why risk damaging things ?

http://laptopforums.toshiba.com/tshb/attac...19/1/readme.txt

During the upgrading of your computers BIOS, if the computer loses power or

fails to complete the process of upgrading the BIOS, the existing BIOS in

the computer may become damaged. Toshiba HIGHLY recommends that the computer

is powered via the AC adapter during the entire BIOS update process.

In the event of a power loss during the BIOS update process, the BIOS Key

Installation Method, described below, can sometimes be used to recover from

the failure. If it does not, you'll need to have your computer serviced by a

Toshiba Authorized Service Provider (ASP). You can select an ASP in your

area at http://pcrepair.toshiba.com

Toshiba also recommends that you disconnect all peripheral devices from your

computer before you perform the BIOS update. Peripheral devices include, but

are not limited to, docking devices (Desk Stations, port replicators), PCMCIA

and CardBus cards, USB and IEEE 1394 devices, printers, scanners, digital

cameras, etc.

On some models, it is not unusual to see a CMOS checksum error when you first

reboot the computer after installing the new BIOS. If you see this message

on your screen, press F1 as instructed. This displays the "TSETUP" screen.

Press <End> to save the CMOS data. You won't see the CMOS checksum error

again.

*****************************************************************************

-------------------------------

BIOS INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS

-------------------------------

There are three options for installing this BIOS release:

1) From the bootable BIOS installation diskette. This is the recommeded

procedure whenever a diskette drive (internal, USB, or PCMCIA) is

available on the target system.

2) From within Windows NT-based operating systems (XP, 2000, NT 4.0) using

the Windows-based BIOS installer.

3) From the bootable BIOS installation CD-ROM

---------------------------------------------------

1) BOOT DISKETTE INSTALLATION METHOD (Recommended)

---------------------------------------------------

The BIOS installation launcher offers the option to create a bootable BIOS

installation diskette. Simply select 'Diskette Installation' from the

Launcher menu and click 'Ok'. You'll need to have a diskette drive

(internal, USB, or PCMCIA) installed, and a formatted 1.44MB diskette

available.

Once the BIOS installation diskette has been created, install the BIOS

using the following steps:

o Connect the computer to AC power using the AC adapter.

o Close all open programs

o Insert the BIOS installation diskette into your diskette drive (A:)

o Shut down the operating system. With Windows, you may choose to

Restart rather than shutting down.

o If necessary, restart the computer by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del or

turning the computer OFF then on again

The computer will boot MS-DOS from the BIOS installation diskette, and

initiate the Flash BIOS installation routine. Please note that on systems

where only a USB-connected diskette drive is supported, you can force the

computer to boot from the USB-connected diskette by holding down the "U" key,

when powering-on the system.

When the Flash BIOS update is complete, a message like the one below will be

displayed:

Please push the RESET SW (or turn AC power OFF/ON) to restart!

ROM Write Successful!

Utility Finished!

Eject the diskette from drive A: and turn the computer OFF then ON, or press

the reset switch to restart your computer.

=== ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THIS INSTALLATION METHOD ===

If you are unable to use the Windows self-extractor, the self-extracting

ZIP archive can be extracted using PKUnZip, Info-Zip, or an equivalent UnZIP

utility. The Zip archive was created with Info-Zip (http://www.info-zip.org)

and the self-extractor (SFX) is WinZip (http://www.winzip.com)

The WinImage self-extracting diskette image, 1988d600.exe, is a 32-bit

Windows application that requires Windows 9x, Me, NT, 2000, or XP.

Information about WinImage is available at http://www.winimage.com.

For Linux or other operating systems, you can use the boot CD-ROM method or

you can create the BIOS installation diskette on a Windows-based computer,

and boot the Toshiba notebook using the BIOS installation diskette.

-----------------------------------------------

2) INSTALLATION FROM WITHIN WINDOWS NT/2000/XP

-----------------------------------------------

This release offers the option to install the BIOS directly from within

Windows NT-based operating systems. To do so, simply select the 'Windows

Installation' option from the Launcher menu, and click 'Ok'.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING THIS INSTALLATION METHOD

Please close all programs before executing the Windows NT-based installer.

Due to the somewhat increased risk of errors updating the BIOS from within

Windows (as compared to using the boot diskette method), it is HIGHLY

recommended that the computer be connected to AC power via the AC adapter,

and that the power-save mode is set to 'Full Power' or the equivalent while

installing the BIOS.

The Windows NT-based BIOS installer, s10v600.exe, will install the flash

BIOS when run under Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, or Windows XP.

The Windows NT-based installer requires Administrator priveleges on the

target system, and, for Windows 2000/XP, requires that the Toshiba Value-

added Logic Device driver (TVALD, or ACPI common modules) be installed and

working.

Windows 95, 98, and Me are not supported. If executed under Windows 9x/Me,

the Launcher will not offer the option to install from within Windows.

[hitest]

But I still go with , unless you are having a problem which the bios upgrade addresses why risk damaging things ?

I agree with Pete_C. I have updated the BIOS on my PC. But, I wouldn't do it unless you *really need* to improve some functionality on your PC. In my opinion if stuff is working all right, then leave well enough alone.

[jimras]

Thanks, fellas.......That's what I thought, too.

No issues right now so I think I'll hold off.

Thanks for being there!!

jr

[JDoors]

Well ... Now that you've decided NOT to do it ... How do you know your laptop couldn't be working BETTER than it is right now? Faster? Or with new features available? What happens if you DO run into a problem: Will you waste time trying to figure out what's causing it and trying to fix it when it COULD have been avoided entirely if you had already updated your BIOS?

Just sayin' ...

[casper0191]

Well sometimes it's up to the use if they want to do the updates. They only recommend updates when they only want to keep the satisfactory of the user. But most of the times updates causes malfunctions and script problems. So just like you said don't fix it if it's alright. But still dont forget that theory is only can apply to this and not for the anti-viruses update.