Solved BIOS update results in slower boot up time

I know this doesn't have anything to do with Vista really... but I'm just curious about a few things regarding the BIOS.

I have an HP dv5 laptop and when I discovered that I was over 5 releases behind on the BIOS, I decided to update with the latest.

The flash process went smoothly, but I immediately noticed some differences with my system start-up:

• About 30-40% slower than before
• My CD-ROM drive is accessed 3 times during the process, despite being disabled in the BIOS settings (I enable it only when I need it).

There was one BIOS update specific to SP2 compatibility, so I rolled back to that one... no difference. I'm now thinking I should just go back to my previous BIOS version. What I'd like to know from anyone familiar with BIOS installations is if the flash is a 100% complete replacement, and is it completely safe to roll back to an earlier version. Thanks!

Yes its safe to roll back, and should be a complete replacement

OK, thanks Patonb. Knowing this, I could try different versions and see if this is influencing the change in performance.

Some of the boot up lag went away, without any BIOS changes. I loaded the latest BIOS again and boot up time was unaffected. So... somewhat of a mystery that magically went away.

Yha BIOS are strange things that only known to MS and Unicorns.

Hi, The when you tried to flash the BIOS it actually did not flash properly or the latest on did not get installed properly due to some reasons (which are not mandatory) like due to an immediate change to higher version, due to improper flash and so... So its good to here that you installed it correctly...

A failed BIOS flash should result in an unusable computer. I've never heard of a partially successful BIOS flash that still allowed a computer to work. Binary result: pass/fail.

I actually have a feeling that it wasn't the BIOS, but some other software and/or configuration setting. As I'm usually multitasking when troubleshooting, I probably did something else that resolved the issue. If I had more patience with myself, I'd be more methodical... but sometimes the urge to "move fast" wins out.