Advice regarding BIOS update

Topic

New Reply

I have a Compaq Presario C700 laptop which came preinstalled with Windows Vista, which I upgraded around 4 years ago to Windows 7. The upgrade was successful and my laptop works a lot better than it did with Vista installed (no surprises there). However, I recently ran into the following HP site:

h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?os=2093&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&sw_lang=&product=3559331#N345

I chose Vista from the list of OSes (as that and XP were the only options available) and the site advised me that a BIOS update was available for my laptop. Now, my main concern is that Compaq DOES NOT provide any drivers for Windows 7, for this particular model. The last supported OS is Vista (both 32-bit and 64-bit). I don’t want to brick my laptop by incorrectly updating the BIOS.

So what do you say guys? Should I go for it? Also is there any way to check the version of the BIOS I currently have? :confused::confused:

As always, any help appreciated.

Reply | Quote

Replies

I tend to work on the “if it ain’t broke” principle. It’s working with W7 so leave it alone.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Okay, I found a way to check my current BIOS version. I pressed Fn+Esc and this is what System Information showed me:

37330-Capture

The version offered on the website was F.35 and it says it improves battery reliability. That would be very beneficial to me as battery performance, at the moment, is barely above average. So guys any suggestions?

Reply | Quote

The F.35 BIOS listed on HP’s website for your laptop is dated 2010-04-09 which is considerably newer than the one you have now (F.33 04/29/2008). So it’s probably worthwhile for you to upgrade. The risk level should be quite low (if there had be problems HP would hardly have left it there for four years).

As someone else posted your laptop’s BIOS is not OS-specific. The F.35 BIOS “softpack” (install package) on the website is listed for Vista 32bit and 64bit so it should run without any problem on Win7. But be careful to have the laptop’s battery fully charged and plugged in to mains power before you attempt to run the upgrade (just in case).

As far as your battery’s performance being barely above average goes, you could look into having it “repacked”. Here in OZ we have “Battery World” stores in most larger centres that provide “repack” services for many kinds of rechargable batteries. Not all that cheap but should be much less than a new battery from HP (if available).

Reply | Quote

Hmm thanks for your reply Paul, I was thinking the exact same thing. However, I would like to wait and see if anyone else can offer any alternatives.

Reply | Quote

Above average sounds fine to me. Given the age of the laptop I wouldn’t expect too much from the battery, unless you’ve replaced it recently.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

The BIOS is not OS specific until one gets into OEM Windows 8, which requires UEFI/GPT from OEM’s, and bootloader protection in the hardware.

On your laptop, that isn’t an issue. I’m of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” category as well. I don’t think I would go for just battery improvement if mine was already “barely above average”.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

Reply | Quote

@bbearren and Coochin

Thanks for your replies, and as a few of you suggested, I have decided not to meddle with the BIOS for now. I’m more than happy with this, though its battery life seriously annoys me. Anyways, I’ll learn to live with it for now, and when the time comes, I’ll just get a new laptop and use this an electronic scratch pad. Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions.

Reply | Quote