How to Flash a BIOS: Graphics Card and Motherboard Edition

Motherboard BIOS Update

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Flashing the motherboard BIOS is probably the most common BIOS flash that you hear of. Most of the updates fix small issues that most users never really experience, but every now and then, there is a worthwhile release every now and again which you should update too.

The first and most common method is downloading the BIOS file, saving to a flash drive and updating through a BIOS flashing process within your motherboards BIOS. The second method is newer and a lot simpler. Most motherboards now come bundled with a BIOS flashing utility that allows you to automatically search and update the BIOS with just a few clicks. This method is less likely to find a new BIOS on the first try due to there being so many different servers available to download from.

To start off, find out your current motherboard BIOS by entering the BIOS and locating the BIOS version. This is normally on the overview screen or motherboard information screen.

Once you know your current BIOS, go to your motherboard product webpage and locate the Downloads section, find the BIOS versions and compare the release dates of your current BIOS with the latest BIOS. DO NOT just go by the BIOS name as previous cases have shown BIOS names to be completely random.

Once you have done that, download the latest BIOS and save it to a memorable location; normally the desktop is a safe place for quick and easy locating; especially during a process like this.

Here you have the choice of installation methods. Personally I like the simplicity of the utilities, but sometimes you have to update the BIOS before you can even install an operating system; making utilities useless.

First up I will show how to use the Gigabyte bundled utility @BIOS. Open up the utility and locate your BIOS. You have multiple options on how to source your new BIOS, but downloading the latest manually and installing from a file is the safest and guaranteed to work every time.

Once you have loaded the new BIOS, follow the on-screen instructions taking note of any warnings. After the final warning screen, the process is automated and will restart your computer.

Like previously mentioned, flashing from a USB drive is your other option. The USB drive you are using needs to be reliable to ensure maximum stability during the flash. The formatting doesn’t really matter, but FAT 32 is preferred as this is a more recognised format within the BIOS. Simply copy the BIOS file onto the drive and you are done for now.

Please note that some motherboards do not recognize certain USB ports until the operating system is loaded, so please check the manual to see if that is the case. Restart your computer and enter the BIOS.

Each motherboard is different, so you need to determine whether you can easily flash the BIOS through key presses or if you need to locate the flashing process manually. A quick command method is normally located within the function keys and is a simple one key press to initiate the process.

Some motherboard may not have a hotkey to quickly enter the BIOS flash process, so from here you can locate it within one of the menus. Once you have started the process, follow the on-screen instructions to start off the automated process.