flashing the bios?

[Vetinari78]

can someone please tell me what is meant by flashing the bios???
also is tis term misleading, is it the cmos that's being refered to or is it really the systems bios?

 

[cheesefish]

It means updating the BIOS version. Leter versions of BIOS have bug fixes and can support new technology (eg. bigger hard drives, more RAM) better.

Kind of like a service pack for Windows or a game patch.

 

[Vetinari78]

thx cheesefish, one more question, what about flash upgrades such as ACPI, can these upgrades be performed on a bios which is non-acpi?

 

[JasonYip]

Also, you may not be able to back up your BIOS upon it being flashed. Be very careful when you're doing it this way... or you could get burned!. The other way that I've seen a BIOS flashed is through the use of a Windows app that has a way of backing up your old one (with a method of restoring it as well). You can install and test your new BIOS and make sure it works before you make it permanent, too (I saw this in an app that came with my old Asus A7S333 mobo).