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EDIT - BIOS UPDATE QUESTION - FIXED IT!!

brunell8

brunell8

Senior member
I'm having problems loading Win XP Home upgrade on a clean install, and MS support suggested I update my BIOS. Can I run the executable file from the command prompt? If not, how can I update it with no OS installed?

**EDIT** Ok, everything is working now. Only change I made was returning my XP cd and exchanging it for a new one. Booted from cd, formatted and loaded OS with no problems. Thanks for the help everyone.
 
Win95/98 boot disk. If you don't have, download one from here. Follow the bios update procedures from your manufacturer to the letter.
 
You create a boot disk that has your BIOS info on it. The BIOS is flashed when you start the computer and boot it off of that Flash Floppy Disk you made.
 
Just for my own info - will it work with ONLY the 95/98 boot disks, and not ME or XP? Thanks for the help.
 
There is no such thing as an XP boot disk. Basically, you just need a DOS boot disk that isn't loading any drivers. The DR-DOS one on the bootdisk.com website is great for that.
 
This 6 disks will get you to the point where you can install XP off of a CD but it will not give you a DOS command prompt which you need to flash. While disk 1 is bootable, it is not considered a boot disk.

 
Gotcha. Problem is, that didn't work either. Disk 4 was bad, so I rebooted off the cd, and got the install all the way down till there were only 7 minutes left, then it crapped out on me again. That's when the MS support desk suggested I update my BIOS and they are also sending me a new cd cuz they said the cd might be bad. One other thing they said was too try boot from the cd in a dvd drive (don't have one) instead of my cd-rw because it reads the cd differently. Ever heard of that?
 
You may not run most BIOS update programs from any shell, but usually only from DOS. They are usually designed for DOS and should never be attempted from a DOS shell, CMD prompt in a window, etc.

Your problem, however, may be the BIOS and may be another problem. Have you recently tried to reload any other OS on your PC? Does it have the same problems loading from CD?


--

I have a motherboard that has problems with the keyboard/mouse PS/2 connectors. Oddly enough, when there was a bad HD in the same PC, it produced the same effects that you mention -- the inability to properly install the OS from CD with some failure at some point in the install.


 
The only other OS I've tried was ME and that's when I found out my cd was bad, causing me to purchase XP.
 
Haven't tried to flash yet. I want to make sure I can do it from the command prompt. I've had some people tell to just put the BIOS update file on my boot disk, reboot and it will run automatically from there. But won't I still have to have a flash program to run the update?
 
Create a boot floppy with just the command.com,Io.sys and msdos.sys. After that, copy the new bios and flash utility to the bootable floppy. re boot your pc and in post configure your computer to boot from floppy. When copmuter boots from this floppy,and you get the a: prompt, type DIR and hit enter. you will see the file name of the flash utility. write down the name and extension of the new bios file. you will need it in a minute. At the A prompt, type the name of the flash utility and extension and hit enter. The flash utility will launch. follow the instructions to the letter.

Be sure you have a safe power source. If you lose power during this, you may not be able to save the mobo.
 
BTW, did you check to see that your hardware was compatible with XP before you started this? If you got part way through the install, it may be hanging because of your soundcard,or modem or vid card too.

The instructions about upgrading to XP is well known. I hope you have done this step first. If not, a bios update will do nothing. If you have incompatible hardware, it just wont install.

Nuff said.
 
Just a couple observatons here.. One person noted 6 disks for setup.. Thats only with XP Pro.. XP home only has 4. Be sure you downloaded the correct boot disk maker for your OS. If you were using the Pro setup disks, disk 4 is the point where XP asks for additional drivers from when you hit F6 at the beginning to install added drivers for SCSI controllers,ATA controllers,etc. Im not sure if this is the same disk that Home setup reaches that point. But if you have an unsupported ATA controller you need to do the F6 and install the ATA or SCSI drivers for a successfull install if not natively supported.
 
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