Is replacing the BIOS chip and flashing the BIOS the same thing?

[lore88]

I was wondering if replacing the bios chip and/or flashing the bios ended up giving you the the same result.

 

[master_shake_]

Yes essentially.
Although replacing a non socketed bios chip is a great deal harder.

 

[BonzaiDuck]

Yes essentially.
Although replacing a non socketed bios chip is a great deal harder.

that's right. Some of them are soldered to the board; others need only the typical plastic extraction tool, or just a little extra care.

It was once easier to find independent outfits offering the service to custom-flash a particular BIOS version for a particular motherboard and send you the new PLCC chip with a discount for turning in the old one. There was an outfit called "BIOSman." No more.

The last time I did this, I discovered that ASUS would sell the chips pre-flashed for you in support of their boards. What other sources there are, I couldn't say.

Usually, the pre-flashed chip should cost between $12 and $20. I went through some 20 years flashing BIOSes without mishap from a pre-prepared floppy disk, until a flash "didn't take" with a 680i motherboard. Since then, I'd always approached the flashing process with caution, but my problem in 2007 was likely just a fluke, and all board-makers have probably made the process more reliable.

But if you build a new rig with the latest parts, it is likely you will want to flash the BIOS once or more as they work out bugs in the earliest releases.

 

[lore88]

No way. I'm trying to get Absolute Persistence CompuTrace out of the bios, and on their website, Absolute says that flashing the BIOS, replacing a HDD, or re-imaging the drive wont get rid of Persistence. But they dont say anything about replacing the BIOS chip. I was hoping that replacing the bios chip would get rid of computrace. i bought this laptop at the swapmeet for low $$.

 

[tcsenter]

You can replace the BIOS chip but you're going to need firmware ROM image to program it with, else your laptop will be a doorstop with a blank system BIOS chip. That firmware ROM image comes from the manufacturer and HAS the Computrace stuff in it. Should be able to disable it unless the previous owner set password in the BIOS required to modify that feature.

 

[lore88]

The new bios chip that i ordered already has the lastest firmware in it. And also it has no password, so if it does come w/ the computrace stuff in it, i guess i should be able to disable it since there is no BIOS password in the new chip (according to the ebay seller). Therefore i should be able to get rid of computrace by disabling it, right?. What do you think?

 

[Billb2]

Reflashing a BIOS overwrites the existing BIOS (to whatever BIOS version you use to reflash) and all settings will revert to their defaults. A new BIOS chip will have whatever BIOS and settings the seller installed. Sellers usually will give you a choice of what new BIOS version you want and, again, all settings will revert to their defaults.

 

[ed2002ro]

Hello lore88, what happened? Did you replace the BIOS chip? Were you able to disable Computrace?

 

[vailr]

It may be possible to edit the bios firmware file, deleting the Computrace module.
Then re-flash the laptop's firmware with the resulting Computrace-free version.
See the comments section here:
https://forums.theregister.co.uk/forum/1/2014/02/17/kaspersky_computrace/

 

[Billb2]

Have a read here:
https://bartblaze.blogspot.com/2014/11/thoughts-on-absolute-computrace.html

 

[vailr]

Have a read here:
https://bartblaze.blogspot.com/2014/11/thoughts-on-absolute-computrace.html

Quote from that page:
"Will flashing the BIOS remove Computrace?
No, as it resides in a non-flashable portion of the BIOS."

That may be an accurate statement, when using the board's standard bios flash tool.
However, it may/could be do-able when using an alternative bios flash tool.
Several of those are listed here:
https://forums.tweaktown.com/gigaby...ng-stability-tools-post284763.html#post284763

Note: bios flashing can also result in a bricked machine, if incorrectly done.

 

[Oyeve]

Also, to fully remove CT not only would you have to replace the BIOS you would have to replace the HD as well. CT also resides on the HD and formatting it won't remove it.

 

[vailr]

Also, to fully remove CT not only would you have to replace the BIOS you would have to replace the HD as well. CT also resides on the HD and formatting it won't remove it.

Formatting the HD ALONE wouldn't be sufficient to get rid of CT.
But: once successfully evicted from the bios firmware (if that were actually possible), then completely re-formatting the HD should finally accomplish the full elimination process, so that it couldn't later re-install itself.