looking for some expert advice

[Patonb]

I found this one from dell
Driver Details | Dell US
Which is a click n go type.

 

[townsbg]

One, I don't recommend a BIOS update and I never will. The reason is that if it goes wrong (worse case scenario) you will never be able to use the motherboard again without performing hardware level programming. More than likely you wouldn't have any problems however considering the risk I prefer not to do so. Granted you can usually download an ISO to burn a disk that will hypothetically restore the BIOS but if it is completely screwed up the motherboard won't be able to use your cd rom drive much less your chip set, cpu, card slots, hard drive connections, etc. You have to get the BIOS right or you will be screwed.

Second an upgrade license of 7 won't automatically activate after a clean install without either a hack or the Microsoft activation help desk allowing you to manually enter in an activation code. I have had the hack not work and the tech refused to perform the manual activation so I had to perform a clean install of Vista and upgrade 7. The problem is that you can't "upgrade" from 32-bit to 64-bit however if you explain to the Microsoft tech that you went from 32-bit to 64-bit hopefully they will be understanding and help you. None the less you will have to go through the painful experience of calling Microsoft, being put on hold, and working with them to perform activation. Just something to consider. Really without having 4 gb or more of ram you don't "need" 64-bit. Really 2 gb is decent and I have lived with it before.

 

[j0hn]

I found this one from dell
Driver Details | Dell US
Which is a click n go type.

thats the 1 i downloaded, i saved it to desktop as instructed, when i click on the winvost263.exe i get a black box pop up (like the command prompt thing) with no text, it then closes and a box pops up sayng WinPhlash user interface has stopped working, on doing this a bunch of .dll files appear on my desktop.

 

[j0hn]

One, I don't recommend a BIOS update and I never will. The reason is that if it goes wrong (worse case scenario) you will never be able to use the motherboard again without performing hardware level programming. More than likely you wouldn't have any problems however considering the risk I prefer not to do so. Granted you can usually download an ISO to burn a disk that will hypothetically restore the BIOS but if it is completely screwed up the motherboard won't be able to use your cd rom drive much less your chip set, cpu, card slots, hard drive connections, etc. You have to get the BIOS right or you will be screwed.

Second an upgrade license of 7 won't automatically activate after a clean install without either a hack or the Microsoft activation help desk allowing you to manually enter in an activation code. I have had the hack not work and the tech refused to perform the manual activation so I had to perform a clean install of Vista and upgrade 7. The problem is that you can't "upgrade" from 32-bit to 64-bit however if you explain to the Microsoft tech that you went from 32-bit to 64-bit hopefully they will be understanding and help you. None the less you will have to go through the painful experience of calling Microsoft, being put on hold, and working with them to perform activation. Just something to consider. Really without having 4 gb or more of ram you don't "need" 64-bit. Really 2 gb is decent and I have lived with it before.

so i wont get the upgrade version i need the full version?

 

[Patonb]

thats the 1 i downloaded, i saved it to desktop as instructed, when i click on the winvost263.exe i get a black box pop up (like the command prompt thing) with no text, it then closes and a box pops up sayng WinPhlash user interface has stopped working, on doing this a bunch of .dll files appear on my desktop.

I tried it out and got that too. Thought maybe it was cause I'm on an Acer.

Where did you get the other BIOS from? I just want to see what files are there, as it might also be files for a boot disk.

 

[j0hn]

from dell webite i had to put my service tag number in and it gave me the same thing, but it did say about puttin it on disc

 

[j0hn]

Phoenix WinPhlash is a program for backing up and flashing (upgrading) your system BIOS.The BIOS (Basic Input and Output System) is a program stored on a Flash chip on the motherboard. When you turn on your computer, the BIOS starts and tests the hardware devices on your system. When everything is ready, it loads the operating system, usually from the hard disk.
With this version, you can:
Backup your current BIOS by copying it from the flash chip to a file on your disk
Write a new BIOS to the Flash chip
Specify Flags for changing the flash process
Override the DMI strings in the current BIOS with or without flashing a new BIOS image
Display a list of supported flash parts.
You cannot upgrade (flash) your BIOS without backing up your current BIOS. If something goes wrong, you can always restore the old one using the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your system.Writing a new BIOS to the flash chip is a very critical procedure. Do not carry out the following procedures unless you are familiar with the target platform, the flash part, and the version of the BIOS you want to flash.WinPhlash is a Windows-based application which uses command-line arguments and the settings file, PHLASH.INI to set or override default behavior.

File Name Description Operating System UsesPHLASH.INI Uses CommandLine
WINPHLASH.EXE 32-bit applicationfor Windows. Windows 98/ME/2000/NT/XP Yes Yes

no windows vista? ^^

 

[Patonb]

Ah... I now remember having the same issue with my older mobo too.

Honestly, I'd try to up your ram first, and if it goes fine than YAY, else then try the newest bios