When is it a good time to flash your BIOS?

I have flashed my BIOS before and I was just wondering how frequently
this should be done? I would of course back up all information and make
sure everything was a-okay before doing this again. My BIOS is currently
from Jan. 2004. Finally would flashing a BIOS ever make 98SE not run
because the BIOS did not support this version or is this completely seperate
since the BIOS helps determine the hardware and settings of a computer?

There is no need to flash bios at all unless your having a problem that is
being corrected in an updated bios.

Typically, the first few bios releases after a motherboard is originally
released may contain desirable improvements (problem fixes). Later on it
becomes tweaking performance and adding support for newer processors and
sometimes new devices.

There is always a risk flashing bios - a failure may leave you with a none
operating computer which may need a bios chip replacement. Why take a risk
if there is no significant benefit.

It should have no impact with regards to operating system.

--
Jon Hildrum
DTS MVP

www.hildrum.com
"Dan" wrote in message
...
I have flashed my BIOS before and I was just wondering how frequently
this should be done? I would of course back up all information and make
sure everything was a-okay before doing this again. My BIOS is currently
from Jan. 2004. Finally would flashing a BIOS ever make 98SE not run
because the BIOS did not support this version or is this completely
seperate
since the BIOS helps determine the hardware and settings of a computer?

I'd be very wary of doing it on a 98 machine myself, as most of the tweaks
are likely done with XP in mind, and may have ramifications for 98 that
could be unexpected!

Brian

--

Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email:
__________________________________________________ __________________________________________________ __________


"Dan" wrote in message
...
I have flashed my BIOS before and I was just wondering how frequently
this should be done? I would of course back up all information and make
sure everything was a-okay before doing this again. My BIOS is currently
from Jan. 2004. Finally would flashing a BIOS ever make 98SE not run
because the BIOS did not support this version or is this completely
seperate
since the BIOS helps determine the hardware and settings of a computer?

It's like any other update (software, BIOS, or hardware). You have to know
exactly what "improvements" the change will bring, and will it really help
your particular setup? Sometimes the change is not worth the trouble,
sometimes it can even cause problems, and sometimes the change will bring
significant improvements.

There are a lot of different BIOS chips - different brands and different
versions of the same brand. So a generalized answer to your question is just
not possible.

"Dan" wrote in message
...
I have flashed my BIOS before and I was just wondering how frequently
this should be done? I would of course back up all information and make
sure everything was a-okay before doing this again. My BIOS is currently
from Jan. 2004. Finally would flashing a BIOS ever make 98SE not run
because the BIOS did not support this version or is this completely
seperate
since the BIOS helps determine the hardware and settings of a computer?

Thanks Jon, this was the answer that I was looking for. I will go ahead and
do some research to see if upgrading my bios is worth the trouble and ads
any specific benefits for my computer. My motherboard is only a year old
and so I doubt there would be much chance of flashing the bios and then
causing it to fail.

"Jon_Hildrum" wrote in message
...
There is no need to flash bios at all unless your having a problem that is
being corrected in an updated bios.

Typically, the first few bios releases after a motherboard is originally
released may contain desirable improvements (problem fixes). Later on it
becomes tweaking performance and adding support for newer processors and
sometimes new devices.

There is always a risk flashing bios - a failure may leave you with a none
operating computer which may need a bios chip replacement. Why take a risk
if there is no significant benefit.

It should have no impact with regards to operating system.

--
Jon Hildrum
DTS MVP

www.hildrum.com
"Dan" wrote in message
...
I have flashed my BIOS before and I was just wondering how frequently
this should be done? I would of course back up all information and make
sure everything was a-okay before doing this again. My BIOS is
currently
from Jan. 2004. Finally would flashing a BIOS ever make 98SE not run
because the BIOS did not support this version or is this completely
seperate
since the BIOS helps determine the hardware and settings of a computer?