BIOS upgrade

i noticed that the lenovo drivers page lists a BIOS update utility as well a standard .iso you can use to update.

so is this update utility some .exe that runs itself and updates the BIOS, or am i misunderstanding the function of the utility and still must run the .iso from a cd as usual?

 

either run the .exe or the bootable cd

 

It should specify. I believe for certain OSs installs (32 vs 64bit?) you have to use your appropriate method. I had to use the ISO for my 64bit install.

 

okay thanks. i just finished running the utility...
much easier than having to burn a cd. glad they finally created such a thing.

 

A lot of manufactures have had that for a while. I had to go the ISO route for my x200 and I have not done that in ages. Usually you can flash in the OS pretty easily.

It is more terrifying to me when I have to boot an ISO and hope it reboots, heh.

 

I think you'll come out the way you did about 93% of the time. The risk is slighty increased of you turning your pc into a brick.

Renee

 

That's why it is scarier. But luckily I haven't bricked anything yet.

 

Is a bios upgrade (if needed) recommended before installing Win 7?

 

not really.

 

not really but i did read that people were having problems with graphics drivers that were resolved with a BIOS update.

so yeh i guess i would recommend it as thats the reason i updated.

 

specifically how is an ISO less safe than flashing from an app in the OS?   where does your "93%" statistic originate?

 

83.49% of people can make up statistics.

 

The 93% percent is a rough estimate from reading this forum. Perhaps the actual number is higher but the that doesn't change the fact that there is still a higher risk of "bricking" your computer.
Renee

 

He did want to know in what way does using an ISO disc increase the risk of the BIOS flash failing?

 

There really is no difference between the ISO and non-ISO method. However, the ISO method is OS agnostic and allows you to update the BIOS whether or not an OS is installed, or if you are one of the many that use a non-Windows OS.

 

68% of people make up statistics 100% of the time.   the other 32% only make them up 76% of the time.

the only fact here is that there's zero definitive evidence saying an ISO is more risky than an EXE flash.   both carry an equal risk since anything could go wrong during the process, either by user error or an app/OS crash.   considering the shift from 32- to 64-bit OSes, most users will be forced to use ISOs until/unless phoenix writes a 64-bit version of winphlash (or a version for linux users).   in the meantime, there's no reason to think an ISO is any more of a risk or that flashing a BIOS is unnecessarily risky.   user error is almost always to blame in failed flashes and the numbers of failed flashes compared to successful ones are universally polarized (but i'm not going to make up a statistic to back up my point ).

keep in mind that what you read on internet forums doesn't constitute a trend, pattern, or an overall demographic.   people inherently complain on forums so you tend to see much more of the bad than the good.   users typically don't post when their BIOS flash went as expected.   they typically only post when things go wrong.

food for thought.

 

iso should be safer in fact! if you update from windows and something goes horribly wrong and you can't even rollback, then you're stuck. having the cd, you can still boot into your comp and do the rollback or go ahead with the update.

 

I only found it scary when I did the ISO flash because when it rebooted it did so a few times and was beeping. It also sort of froze up while flashing (or the status didn't move for a good minute).

But I don't have a brick though so it went according to plan.

Fortunately I have never bricked computer in a build.

 

yup, this was the exact reason why i was scared of the iso method.

but then yesterday i found out the utility method does the same thing though. :/