Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
Fortunately, a Windows-based USB format utility (HPUSBDisk.exe) is available for free from HP
(
http://tinyurl.com/yfz8rdl
)
. To make the flash drive bootable, this program requires a set of DOS
system files (command.com, io.sys, and msdos.sys) to write to the flash drive during the format. You
can use several versions of DOS, but in most cases I recommend using the system files from DOS
6.22. If you don't have a copy, you can download the DOS 6.22 system files in the form of a bootable
floppy image from
www.bootdisk.com
. Look for the “Non-Windows Based Image Files,” and then
download the 622c.zip file. Use a program like 7-Zip (
www.7-Zip.org
) to first extract the .IMG file
from the zip file, and then use it again to extract the DOS files from the .IMG file.
To create the bootable flash drive, run the HPUSBDisk.exe program and select the flash device and
file system (FAT). Then, check Create a DOS Startup Disk Using System Files Located At and point
to the location where you have extracted the necessary DOS files. After that, perform the format.
Note
BIOS and motherboard manufacturers began adding USB boot support during 2001, so if your
system dates from around that time or earlier, it might not be able to boot from a USB drive.
When setting up a system to boot from a USB flash drive, the flash drive must be plugged in
prior to restarting the system and entering the BIOS setup. In the BIOS setup startup sequence
(boot order), the USB flash drive might appear as either a “generic” storage device hard disk
or as a type of removable drive, which you should set as the first device in the boot order. In
most systems, when the USB flash drive is unplugged, it is automatically removed from the
boot order on the next restart.
After the USB flash drive is formatted as a bootable drive, you can add the BIOS flash utility and
image file for the motherboard. Plug the bootable USB flash drive into the system you want to
upgrade, and then restart the system, run the BIOS setup, and set the USB flash drive to be first in the
boot sequence. After you save and exit, the system should boot to DOS from the USB flash drive. At
the DOS command prompt, you can then run the proper command to reflash your BIOS.
Conducting a Safe BIOS Upgrade
Because a failure or hang during the flash BIOS update procedure can result in “bricking” the
system, when updating a BIOS you want the system to be as stable as possible. With that in
mind, when using a Windows or bootable CD-based upgrade I recommend undoing any
overclocking and resetting the BIOS Setup settings to Fail-Safe defaults before performing the
upgrade.
If you are updating the BIOS using the BIOS Setup-based procedure, you don't need to undo
any overclocking settings. That is because when running the BIOS Setup program a system is
always running under Fail-Safe settings, which is designed to allow you to reverse any overly
aggressive overclocking settings that would cause the system to crash during startup. Most
modern motherboards have a feature in the BIOS Setup allowing you to update the BIOS
directly from a standard non-bootable USB flash drive, with no other software, discs, and so
on necessary. Because the system is always running in fail-safe mode when in the BIOS Setup,
you can safely update the BIOS using the BIOS Setup based procedure without having to
change or undo overclocking settings.
