BIOS

[sadio8]

Ok i got a question here. In computer class my teacher was talking about updating your computers BIOS and whatnot. So my question is if i update my BIOS on my computer what excately would happen/change in regards to my computer?

[DS]

The BIOS effect the way every hardware aspect of your computer. If you're computer is running fine on what you had and they came out with a new version, you wouldn't HAVE to download it, but if you were going to add a new piece of hardware or edit the hardware you had on there (ie overclocking) you would probably need to get the newest version.

[KleptoKlown]

if it aint broken, dont fix it.

flashing your bios can lead to undesirable system performances.

[CREDO]

As DS said, if your about to change hardware, upgrade the CPU etc then updating the bios is a good idea to ensure that your bios can support newer hardware that wasnt thought of when your bios was written. Or if you plan to put XP on an older machine then sometimes you have to update the bios in order for XP to install.

But for the average user as klepto said, if it aint broke dont fix it. Flashing the bios can lead to undesirable system performances if you screw it up. although all the new intel boards have a .exe to run that does it all for you, no need to manually flash it.
I would read through the changes the new bios has, see if any of the fixes are relavent to you and your setup.
Remeber to double check that the bios you have is for your paticular board, not just the chipset the board uses as flashing the wrong bios can permanently screw up your board and you might as well cut it up into nice little pieces stick it to a canvas and use it for a bit of techno art.

[Vega]

{lepto]{lown']if it aint broken, dont fix it.

Best computer advice tip ever. Sadly I learned the hard way (don't download windows update driver updates unless said divice isn't working properly).

[CREDO]

testify brother!

I have had nothing but trouble with bloody windows update drivers.

I find it a bit suss when I know for a fact that I have the latest drivers from Nvidia and yet windows update thinks it knows better..

[Sidle Jinks]

First of all, if you do want to update your BIOS, you have to check that the new BIOS must be fully compatible with the one you have - it must be designed for your chipset (for example, it's not recommended to flash, for example BIOS for i845 chipset with the one for i820) and SuperIO controller supported by your original BIOS must be supported by the new BIOS (otherwise your keyboard, hard disk or floppy disk might not work).

Next. Why to update BIOS. BIOS manufacturers are also human beings, and all humans can make mistakes. So BIOS manufacturers make updates which fix old bugs (and bring new ones ;) ). So it can be useful to download a patch for your BIOS and flash it.

Note that if you want to flash new BIOS, you must boot up from a clean system diskette (WITHOUT himem.sys and other stuff like that) and follow the instructions given in flash utility manual. DO NOT FORGET to backup your BIOS in order you can flash it back if something goes wrong!!!
After flashing reboot your PC and say a prayer to the guardian angel :)