How To Update Bios On Lenovo W Battery Uncharged

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Yous probably shouldn't update your BIOS, but sometimes you demand to. Here's how to check what BIOS version your computer is using and flash that new BIOS version onto your motherboard as quickly and safely as possible.

RELATED: Do You Need to Update Your Computer'south BIOS?

Exist very conscientious when updating your BIOS! If your reckoner freezes, crashes, or loses power during the procedure, the BIOS or UEFI firmware may exist corrupted. This will return your computer unbootable—information technology'll be "bricked."

How to Check Your Current BIOS Version in Windows

Your computer's BIOS version is displayed in the BIOS setup menu itself, but you don't have to reboot to check this version number. In that location are several ways to see your BIOS version from within Windows, and they work the same on PCs with a traditional BIOS or a newer UEFI firmware.

RELATED: What Is UEFI, and How Is It Different from BIOS?

Check Your BIOS Version at the Control Prompt

To check your BIOS version from the Command Prompt, hit Start, type "cmd" in the search box, and and so click the "Command Prompt" result—no need to run information technology as an administrator.

At the prompt, blazon (or copy and paste) the following command, and so hit Enter:

wmic bios get smbiosbiosversion

You'll meet the version number of the BIOS or UEFI firmware in your current PC.

Check Your BIOS Version by Using the System Information Panel

RELATED: How to Open the System Data Panel on Windows ten or 8

You tin can likewise discover your BIOS's version number in the System Data window. On Windows 7, viii, or 10, hit Windows+R, blazon "msinfo32" into the Run box, and so hitting Enter.

The BIOS version number is displayed on the System Summary pane. Look at the "BIOS Version/Appointment" field.

How to Update Your BIOS

Different motherboards use different utilities and procedures, and then at that place's no one-size-fits-all set of instructions here. Withal, y'all'll perform the same basic process on all motherboards.

RELATED: How to Check Your Motherboard Model Number on Your Windows PC

Outset, head to the motherboard manufacturer'due south website and find the Downloads or Support page for your specific model of motherboard. You should run into a listing of bachelor BIOS versions, along with any changes/bug fixes in each and the dates they were released. Download the version to which you want to update. You'll probably want to catch the newest BIOS version—unless yous accept a specific demand for an older 1.

If you purchased a pre-built computer instead of building your own, caput to the figurer manufacturer's website, look upwardly the computer model, and wait at its downloads page. Y'all'll find any bachelor BIOS updates there.

Your BIOS download probably comes in an archive—usually a ZIP file. Extract the contents of that file. Inside, you'll find some sort of BIOS file—in the screenshot below, it's the E7887IMS.140 file.

The archive should also contain a README file that will walk you through updating to the new BIOS. You should check out this file for instructions that apply specifically to your hardware, merely we'll try to encompass the basics that piece of work across all hardware here.

RELATED: What You Need to Know About Using UEFI Instead of the BIOS

You'll need to cull one of several different types of BIOS-flashing tools, depending on your motherboard and what it supports. The BIOS update'south included README file should recommend the ideal option for your hardware.

Some manufacturers offer a BIOS-flashing choice straight in their BIOS, or equally a special key-press pick when you kick the computer. Yous copy the BIOS file to a USB drive, reboot your estimator, and then enter the BIOS or UEFI screen. From there, you choose the BIOS-updating option, select the BIOS file you placed on the USB bulldoze, and the BIOS updates to the new version.

RELATED: What You Demand to Know Well-nigh Using UEFI Instead of the BIOS

You by and large access the BIOS screen by pressing the appropriate central while your figurer boots—it'southward often displayed on the screen during the boot process and will be noted in your motherboard or PC's manual. Common BIOS keys include Delete and F2. The process for entering a UEFI setup screen tin can be a bit different.

At that place are too more traditional DOS-based BIOS-flashing tools. When using those tools, you lot create a DOS live USB bulldoze, then copy the BIOS-flashing utility and BIOS file to that USB bulldoze. Yous so restart your computer and boot from the USB bulldoze. In the minimal DOS environs that appears after the reboot, yous run the appropriate command—often something like wink.bat BIOS3245.bin—and the tool flashes the new version of the BIOS onto the firmware.

RELATED: How to Create a Bootable DOS USB Drive

The DOS-based flashing tool is frequently provided in the BIOS archive you download from the manufacturer's website, although you may have to download it separately. Await for a file with the .bat or .exe file extension.

In the past, this process was performed with bootable floppy disks and CDs. We recommend a USB drive considering it'south probably be the easiest method on modern hardware.

Some manufacturers provide Windows-based flashing tools, which you run on the Windows desktop to flash your BIOS and then reboot. We don't recommend using these, and even many manufacturers who provide these tools caution against using them. For example, MSI "strongly recommends" using their BIOS-based carte du jour option instead of their Windows-based utility in the README file of the sample BIOS update we downloaded.

Flashing your BIOS from within Windows tin can event in more bug. All that software running in the background—including security programs that may interfere with writing to the computer'south BIOS—can cause the process to fail and decadent your BIOS. Whatever system crashes or freezes might likewise upshot in a corrupted BIOS. Information technology's better to be safe than sorry, so we recommend using a BIOS-based flashing tool or booting to a minimal DOS environment to wink your BIOS.

That's it—later you run the BIOS-flashing utility, reboot your computer, and the new BIOS or UEFI firmware version loads. If there'due south a problem with the new BIOS version, you may be able to downgrade it by downloading an older version from the manufacturer'south website and repeating the flashing process.