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    Dell M1710 BIOS Update? - Beginner Question

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Johnlennon77, Apr 14, 2007.

  1. Johnlennon77

    Johnlennon77 Newbie

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    Greetings fellow Dell owners!

    Sorry but I'm kind of bad when it comes to technical computer aspects so please bare with me!

    It's recently come to my attention through a video on Youtube that the M1710 can be overclocked, although when I input F2 at startup which took me to a series of menus, where there was no option to enable me to overclock.

    This made me wonder if my laptops hardware or software needed to be 'upgraded' and I found something on the Dell website called BIOS Updates.

    Now, to my knowledge, I have never installed a BIOS Update on my M1710 before(unless it is done automatically?).

    What exactly is a BIOS Update? Is it something that Dell encourages owners to install and adds new features/fixes to the existing laptop soft/hardware?

    From my initial investigations, it seems that something called "A05 05/02/2007" is the latest update, since I have never knowingly updated the BIOS before, would I need to manually install each update from the very beginning or could I just install the very latest A05 one?

    Many thanks for anyone who answers any of my questions.

    (P.S sorry if this thread appears twice, I even had trouble posting this! :eek: )
     
    Johnlennon77, Apr 14, 2007
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  2. roffensian

    roffensian Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK, a few things.

    First, if you are not technically comfortable I wouldn't suggest that you start overclocking components of your laptop. While it is theoretically a safe thing to do, you should be consicous of the impact that it will have and counteract that - typically you will be generating more heat that you need to disipate. There are plenty of threads on here about overclocking if you really want to, but not sure the risk / reward is worth it if you aren't comfortable with some basic technical items.

    The BIOS is the basic operating system that runs the laptop - the thing that runs when you first hit the power button. It also controls a number of the laptop components / functions during operation. There are relatively frequent updates issued, some of which are worthwhile, some not. There is a new one that Dell issued last week and conventional wisdom is that it is worth upgrading to. Not sure what the numbering system is on the 1705 but it will be something like A06 or A07 - go to the support part of the Dell site and look for updates for your machine.

    Updating the BIOS is very simple - download the update and run it from Windows. The laptop will restart and the BIOS will be flashed with the update.
     
    roffensian, Apr 16, 2007
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