USB bootable drive.
All computer system boards---or motherboards---have a small chip on them called a BIOS. This is the computer's low-level brains, without which it would not work. As manufacturers discover slight bugs in their BIOS software, they distribute updates to fix them.
The BIOS may be updated by running a small application that changes the BIOS to the new version. The traditional device to install the BIOS update is a floppy drive. For those whose computer has no such drive, a USB flash drive may be used to accomplish the same task.
Instructions
1. Purchase a USB flash drive, readily available from most office supply stores. The USB stick must be prepared prior to the update. Insert the USB flash drive into your computer. Double-click the "My Computer" icon. Note the drive letter assigned by Windows for the USB flash drive. This will show up as a drive letter that never existed before on your computer.
2. Right-click on the USB flash drive and select format. Format it to the fat32 option and click OK. Formatting should take only a few seconds. This will allow the computer to recognize the USB flash drive after installation of the boot software.
3. Go to your motherboard manufacturer's website. This name of the manufacturer is listed in your user's manual. If you bought the system from a major manufacturer, all you will need is the model of your computer when going to the company's website. When on the website, look in the category of BIOS updates and download the most recently available update.
4. Expand the Bios.zip. For all Windows operating systems from XP forward, double-click on the .zip file. When asked where to place the file, save it to the desktop to make it easier to find when needed. The file will appear as a folder on the desktop and will retain the same name.
5. Download the program Unetbootin to your desktop. It does not require installation; it is an executable file. Double-click on the file and when it opens select distribution from the top menu item. Choose "Freedos." Select your flash drive, click "OK" and let it install. Select "No" when asked if you want to reboot now.
6. Double-click on the folder to which the BIOS update was unzipped on your desktop. It will open and display all of the files necessary to install the update. Select all files and copy them to the USB flash drive. When you reboot, you must tell your computer to boot from the USB drive. Select boot loader from the main Bios screen. When it boots you will see the drive letter prompt flashing on the screen. Type the name of the file to update your BIOS. It is usually called flash.exe or aflash.exe. The actual file necessary to run will be listed in a text file within the zip file. It will go through the update process and install the new update.
Tags: flash drive, your computer, drive letter, BIOS update, desktop will, file will, install update