Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
If no older versions can be downloaded and there is no menu option to back up, there may be other
ways to make a copy of the BIOS, such as by using the DOS command-based BIOS upgrade software
usually found on the BIOS upgrade floppy or CD for the motherboard. For example, if your
motherboard has a Phoenix or Award BIOS, you can create a backup using the awdflash.exe program
found on the BIOS upgrade disc for your motherboard with the
/sy
(Save Yes) and
/pn
(Program
No) parameters, as follows:
awdflash /sy /pn
When the program runs, you are prompted to enter the backup file's name (for example, backup.bin).
Press Enter to save the file.
Backing Up Your BIOS Setup (CMOS RAM) Settings
A motherboard BIOS upgrade often wipes out the BIOS Setup settings in the CMOS RAM, resetting
everything to defaults. Some BIOS Setup programs offer the ability to save and restore CMOS
settings, but unfortunately this capability is not universal. In some cases the new BIOS offers new
settings or changes the positions of the stored data in the CMOS RAM, which means a backup and
restore won't work.
Although it sounds like a simple concept, actually saving the BIOS Setup settings is somewhat
difficult technically because the amount, type, and even location of information stored in the NVRAM
(nonvolatile RAM) can vary considerably from one motherboard to another. That being said, there
are some possibilities, but they generally won't work with all types of systems.
For example, Lenovo provides both Windows and DOS-based BIOS Settings Capture/Playback
Utilities, but these work only on newer ThinkPad laptops. For other systems there are more generic
solutions that might work, such as the following:
•
CmosPwd
—
www.cgsecurity.org
•
CMOSsave/CMOSrest
—
www.mindprod.com
Unfortunately, these don't work on all systems, but they are free to try and use.
In many cases, you are better off manually recording your BIOS Setup parameters. One easy way to
do this is to use a digital camera to take pictures of each screen or menu. If you have a parallel printer
connected, which is admittedly unlikely, you also might be able to print the screens using the PrtScr
(or PrtScn) key on the keyboard. Turn on the printer, start your computer normally, and restart it
without turning off the system to initialize the printer. Note that this won't work for printers connected
via USB because only parallel printers are directly supported via the BIOS. When recording any
changes you made from default settings, pay special attention to any hard drive settings, especially
SATA modes (IDE/AHCI/RAID), drive geometry (cylinder/head/sectors per track), or translation
(LBA, Large, CHS). These are important because, if you fail to reset them as they were, you might not
be able to boot from or access the drives.
Tip
If you use a digital camera to take a picture of each BIOS setup screen, be sure to set the
camera to its close-up mode. Also, unless the camera is an SLR (Single Lens Reflex) type, use
the camera's LCD screen rather than the optical viewfinder to ensure you get the entire BIOS
screen in the photo.
