Partition resize + BIOS update

Hi All,
Yoga 2 Pro 128 GB SSD + 8 GB RAM. Resized partitions (killed D: with drivers and useless McAafee and expanded C: with Windows), rebooted the machine, then updated BIOS. On reboot, the laptop went into an endless loop "Attempting Automatic Recovery" --> "No Admin account found on this machine"... Had to return the laptop for an exchange (same hardware), and now I'm a bit gun-shy re: resizing the partitions and updating the BIOS... anyone had an issue like this? any suggestions?
Manythanks,
Alex

Figure 1: Error message
The error displays when ...
the update requires certain hardware or software that is not installed on your computer (examples: keyboard replaced with a non-HP keyboard or Microsoft .NET software is not installed),
the computer does not meet a certain minimum hardware or software requirement (examples: 4 GB minimum memory, 200 MB free disk space, or .NET version 2.0 required and 1.0 is installed) .
Usually, this error indicates the update is not needed for your computer and it should not be installed.

Similar Messages

T61 BIOS update - how serious is the "brick" risk?

Reading through various posts here, it seems that it is either very easy to update the BIOS, or very easy to "brick" your system
Are there any known good methods? Are there any tools that can back up the BIOS and if ncessary restore the BIOS using that backup?
Are there any "known bad" methods that are almost certain to brick the system?

You can do a bios update from your harddrive, you just cannot do it when booted into your 64bit windows version.
There are other options. You can start the compuuter with a Windows PE (pre-installation envoromennt) Live CD, then run the 32bit program from your harddrive. When you run it from an optical drive you introduce the risk of disc read error, as well as the fact that optical discs are much slower then a HDD.
I'm preparing to flash a 64bit version at the moment and I'll describe how I'm doing it. Part of this process is to install a backup operating system onto the computer,setup as dual boot. This way if I have any problems like data loss, I can start the computer from a different partition and run disc recovery programs on the main system drive (you sould never try to recover data on the same drive you booted from, so this is something I do with every computer I setup).
1. Search and download a freeware program ccalled "Parted Magic". It's a partition manager based on a Linux LiveCD and runs without installing anything on your harddrive (runs fully in ram memory). I'm going to skip over the "how to use parted magic because quite frankly, it's so simple that anyone unable to figure it out shouldn't be flashing bios or installing operating systems.
2. Resize your primary partition to give enough room to install a second operating system. I'm using a custom build of WinXP that only requires about 300mb, but I like to make the second partition large and use it for storage, that way any data loss on partition 2 can be repaired from your main operating system, and if I ever have to reformat my system drive, I can move any data I need to save to my second partition.
I generally give Win Seven or Vista a min of 20GB, but you can use a smaller partition if you're not going to install a lot of programs. This laptop has an 80GB harddrive and I'm making two 40GB primary partitions.
*note, if you want to mix WinXP and Windows Vista/Seven, you'll need to either install XP first, or repair the Vista/Seven boot manager that XP will overwrite. It's an easy fix but to keep this simple I'll avoid any unnecessary instructionns.
After you finish making your second partition formated with NTFS, simply boot your Windows install disc and select the second partition and install.
You'll now have a second windows version.
Assuming you selected a 32bit version, you can use it to run anything that won't run under win x64.
If you prefer to boot from a WinPE disc, you can download the software you need to make it direct from microsoft. Here is a wikipedia article that will tell you more about this.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Preinstallation_Environment
You can also do a google search and you'll find many guides on making them. I would recommend you boot a winPE disc and do some exploring of your computer so you get the feel of it, and more important, so you can be sure it's running stabe on your system. You might even be able to run some of those old dos games that windows objects to running, so have some fun and get the feel of it.
If you can run even small basic programs from winpe, then you can be pretty sure it's stable enough to flash a bios. The problem with the bios boot disc is you have no oportunity to do anything, it boots and flashes... it won't decide "wait a minute, why is my screen flicering and power LEDs flashing, maybe I better figure this out first", it just proceeds forth like a good soilder, obeying orders even if they are fatal.
I hope this information is helpful, I believe it all to be accurate, but please remember that I'm not recommending you flash your bios, you have to make that decision.
ThinkPad W-510 i7-820QM(1.73-3.06GHz) Quad Core... ThinkPad T500, T9900, 8gb SSD...FrankNpad T-60p/61p (X9000 2.8ghz) 8gb SSD ips FlexView...ThinkPad T-61p (T9300 2.5ghz) 8gb ram...Thinkpad X-61 Tablet 4gb ram...ThinkPad A-31 (1.9ghz P4 1.5gb ram)

Boot failure in B50-30 Touch after BIOS update

Hi,
I bought a B50-30 Touch notebook 2 months ago in the United States.
Just before my visit to India, I updated the BIOS from version 2.04 to 2.07.
Now I am unable to successfully boot into the factory-installed Windows 8.1.
The Lenovo logo appears & the system gets stuck in a restarting loop.
I reset the BIOS to the system default settings, but still failed to boot successfully.
Even using the Novo button for system recovery results in an endless restarting loop.
Kindly let me know if there is any way I can flash the BIOS back to version 2.04 using an USB flash drive.
I have executables of both versions 2.04 & 2.07 of the BIOS update utility:
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/ziwb0207.exe
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/ziwb0207.txt
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/ziwb0204.exe
http://download.lenovo.com/ibmdl/pub/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/ziwb0204.txt
Any help in this regard would be greatly appreciated.
Waiting till I return back to States after 3 months is not a pleasant option.
Solved!
Go to Solution.

Andrew_Mitchell wrote:
That's a lot of useful info!
However it appears that you did not understand what I said about the Linux Live USB.
I was actually not successful in being able to view any of the partitions or files on the HDD.
Only the folders & files created by the Linux Live USB installation could be seen.
This is worrying as some of the stuff on the HDD needs to to backed up.
So I think it is a risk to proceed further before making sure that the data on the HDD is intact.
Also, another thing I would like to state is that the system (C) partition has nothing of value on it.
All the data that I need to backup is on the D: partition.
So if your instructions risk losing only the contents on the C: partition, then it is fine with me.
I can go ahead & try to repair the installation.
Please clarify this in order for me to proceed further.
As always, thanks a million for your help.
It is greatly appreciated.
PS I always make sure that I know what I am doing before tinkering with a system.
I understood your reference but I was indicating that the hardware was working, not inferrring the data was readable. If it came up with no hard disk installed under linux it would have been a different story. I apologize if this caused confusion.
There is always a chance that data will be lost with any change to partition information, that is why I always suggest making a back up if possible. If you can not see the data on the partitions, the best way is to use GParted and TestDisk to view the contents of the hard disk with both quick scan and deep scan options. Using this will not make changes to data, only allow you to see what TestDisk can say is there. If you look at TestDisk walkthru you can see it does not make changes unless you "write" or commit your changes to the drive.
If TestDisk shows you the partitions information it will include all that are "marked" for deletion or corrupted. It can give you options to view partition contents (raw data) to verify the proper partition to recover and then make it active. It can also restore boot sectors as well.
Windows RE will attempt to do this, but if it fails you will have little choice but to initialize the drive and start over.
PS> I figured you knew to look before leaping, but better not to assume... LOL

Troubles in dual boot system after BIOS update

Hello:
PC: Thinkpad T500
1. I had for one year Linux Fedora 10 and Vista Ultimate working in dual boot with Grub, no problems at all.
Three days ago Lenovo support recommended I update my BIOS from 2.07 to 3.12, as I had some intermitent Sleep problems in Vista. Then my problems started.
2. First, after updating the BIOS from Vista (dowloaded the exe, double clicked it, gone through the whole sequence with no errors), upon the first restart, the screen was black and I couldn't get in BIOS with F1 and the same happened during other power-off/power on sequences.
3. Now, I've discovered that the best I can do is wait for 10 min after restart in order to get a prompt from ThinkVantage, then Grub boots only the Linux system which works OK.
4. I can't get the dual boot message from Grub, and I can't get any Windows DVD to be taken at boot (I've got full backups from both Control Panel and from ThinkAdvantage backup facility) in order to ru Windows repair.
5. I can go during the ThinkAdvantage to BIOS, the new version seems there (not sure if completely operational), but whey can't I see it with F1?
Is the presence of ThinkAdvantage something special in dual-boot systems or wrt to the BIOS install? Should I do something special about it? I just don't know.
Any ideas?

Strange. I don't have a clue, but I have seen posts here that recoverd from strangeness after a BIOS update by unplugging from the AC mains, removing the battery, and then pressing the power button several times. The last time, hold the button for 10 seconds or so.
That is really a total WAG, but maybe worth a try.
Out of curiousity, what do you see when grub finally loads. I take it that it isn't your original boot menu. Do you have grub installed in the MBR, the boot sector of the Linux partition, or both? Is the Linux partition (or Linux boot partition if you have boot + root) the 1st one on the drive, or _after_ the vista partition.
[edit] You didn't ask, but IMNSHO multibooting a modern laptop isn't really the easiest way to run multiple OSs. I run Linux, Solaris, and OS X in VMs under Win 7 on my T400. They run well, and that approach avoids issues like you are having. The Lenovo ThinkVantage boot-time stuff and R&R are rather fragile. Changes in partitioning and MBR configuration can break them. BIOS and other updates, and Windows repairs can break the multi-boot setup.
There are several ways to set up VMs, but VMWare Player is what I use. The latest version is free and quite usable.
Z.
The large print: please read the Community Participation Rules before posting. Include as much information as possible: model, machine type, operating system, and a descriptive subject line. Do not include personal information: serial number, telephone number, email address, etc. The fine print: I do not work for, nor do I speak for Lenovo. Unsolicited private messages will be ignored. ... GeezBlog
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BIOS updates? -- Syslinux problems

Are BIOS updates even possible/safe in Linux? I bing'd it and read an article about using flashrom, so I did a quick
$ pacman -Ss flashrom
and noticed that we've got it in our repos, which I remember already knowing, so I'm now wondering why did I even bother to search for it...
anyway, so would it be safe to try to use flashrom to do a BIOS update for my ACER laptop, because it REALLY needs one. It can't even run Syslinux--Syslinux starts up and then just sits there like a bump on a log. My other option is to reinstall Windows 7, which stopped working after I changed my HDD's part table to GPT and moved the Windows Paritions to the end where they could sit and do... nothing, I guess.
Any ideas?
Oooh, quick note. It seems that Syslinux does not work when booting from a USB, but does when booting from a DVD or CD, how odd.
Last edited by lspci (2012-09-20 08:02:03)

Pres wrote:
I checked and you are right, they don't seem to provide a DOS method for updating to 1.10 for your laptop. However, the fact that several of the older BIOS versions on their site were larger files caught my interest, so I downloaded one. Looks like they provided DOS files for every version up to 1.09.
Might want to call them and ask why the DOS method was removed for 1.10.
Good idea, I'll ask 'em what's up.
Lol, so here's what their representative told me during my chat with, I guess her.
Govindan Sharanji: Hi, my name is Govindan Sharanji. How may I help you?
lspci lsblk: Hi, I wanted help with doing a BIOS update. I know that the download/support page for my laptop says that I should only do this when instructed but I'm hoping that the newer BIOS will be nicer than the old ones and that they might somehow magically support Syslinux.
Govindan Sharanji: I will certainly provide you the required information.
lspci lsblk: I don't use Windows 7, though; so I asked around in the Arch Linux community for advise and one of the guys on there said that yall might have a DOS executable that I could use to do the update with.
lspci lsblk: oh, okay.
lspci lsblk: uh.. well, what I've been saying so far is really just background information--leading up to my real question, as it were.
Govindan Sharanji: I understand that you require the information to download and install the BIOS update.
Govindan Sharanji: Let us check the BIOS version of your notebook.
Govindan Sharanji: Please open System Information by clicking the Start button. In the search box, type System Information, and then, in the list of results, click System Information.
lspci lsblk: I don't use Windows.
lspci lsblk: I don't have a start button or any of that, I'm afraid. I use Arch Linux.
Govindan Sharanji: Okay.
lspci lsblk: I already downloaded the BIOS, I just wanted to know if you knew why yall dropped support for the DOS method of updating the BIOS. Like, one of the guys of the Arch Linux Forumns said:
lspci lsblk: "Looks like they provided DOS files for every version up to 1.09.
Might want to call them and ask why the DOS method was removed for 1.10."
Govindan Sharanji: Let me check the database.
lspci lsblk: okay.
Govindan Sharanji: As per documentation the latest BIOS update can only be installed from windows.
lspci lsblk: hmm, okay. :/
lspci lsblk: I tried installing Windows, just for the sake of doing the update, but the installation process said that Windows could not be installed to a GPT partition table.
lspci lsblk: (I use GPT instead of the usual Master Boot Record table, I believe.)
Govindan Sharanji: Since you have installed Arch Linux you need to clean format the hard disk using any third party application.
Govindan Sharanji: After formatting you may use the recovery discs to install windows operating system that was shipped with your computer.
lspci lsblk: o.O Heavens, no. It'll take me over a week to reinstall it after words and get everything back to normal.
lspci lsblk: What about version 1.09?
lspci lsblk: did that one come with a DOS executable?
Govindan Sharanji: Let me check.
lspci lsblk: okay
Govindan Sharanji: Yes 1.09 08/20/2012 can be updated in DOS mode.
Govindan Sharanji: http://global-download.acer.com/GDFiles/BIOS/BIOS/BIOS_Acer_1.09_A_A.zip?acerid=634810224904845613&Step1=NOTEBOOK&Step2=ASPIRE&Step3=ASPIRE V3-571&OS=ALL&LC=en&BC=ACER&SC=PA_7
lspci lsblk: yay, excellent.
lspci lsblk: okay, thank you very much.
Govindan Sharanji: Please click on the above link to download and install the BIOS update version 1.09 08/20/2012.
lspci lsblk: Oh, wait that reminds me. Do you know if yall will have the Recovery Disks for my laptop anytime soon?
Govindan Sharanji: After extracting the BIOS file you will find an readme file with instructions to install the BIOS update in DOS mode.
Govindan Sharanji: The Restore CD costs approximately $19.95 (plus taxes) including shipping and handling on your Credit Card.
lspci lsblk: save your breath, I know how to take care of the DOS thing. No, I mean do yall have it in yall's Acer Store thing yet? Last I checked it wasn't available for my product.
lspci lsblk: or for yall's product that I bought, I should say.
Govindan Sharanji: The Recovery Media is not immediately available.
lspci lsblk: okay..., any idea when it will be?
Govindan Sharanji: Yes it will be available soon.
Govindan Sharanji: You may contact Acer Ecommerce department at 1-800-910-2237, Mon-Fri 8:00am - 5:00pm CST to purchase the recovery disc.
lspci lsblk: my hopes are that I might be able to use the Discs to recover the factory installation of Windows and so by pass all of the problems in terms of updates that I am currently faced with.
lspci lsblk: well, I was really more interested in a simple yes, and the date, or a no. But that works too, I guess.
lspci lsblk: Anyway, that about wraps up my list of questions, so thank you for all the help. :)
Govindan Sharanji: You also have the option to send the computer for warranty service the reload the factory shipped operating system.
lspci lsblk: hmmm...
lspci lsblk: I might do that... but.... it'd still be a pain in the butt to reinstall Arch Linux and all the software that I've either compiled or installed on here using the package manager
Govindan Sharanji: I appreciate you for spending your valuable time with us in diagnosing the issue.
Govindan Sharanji: If any further information is needed please contact us again and I will be happy to assist you.
lspci lsblk: *sigh* I think that I may just make due with the vesion 1.09 update... oh, and just for the record why did yall drop support for the DOS method for version 1.10? You really didn't specify exactly why.
lspci lsblk: you mentioned something about documentation, but what documentation and why?
Govindan Sharanji: The dos version of this BIOS update was not released since this update was for some windows driver issue.
lspci lsblk: Ooooh
lspci lsblk: so yall didn't just drop it 'cause yall decided to only support Windows from now on?
Govindan Sharanji: No.
Govindan Sharanji: It has been a privilege assisting a valuable customer like you!
Govindan Sharanji: It was a pleasure assisting you.Thank you for using Acer Live Chat.
Govindan Sharanji: Have a pleasant night. Goodbye.
lspci lsblk: okay, bye.
Govindan Sharanji has disconnected.
So as it turns out version 1.10 only comes in Windows-flavor for a reason.
lspci lsblk: *sigh* I think that I may just make due with the vesion 1.09 update... oh, and just for the record why did yall drop support for the DOS method for version 1.10? You really didn't specify exactly why.
lspci lsblk: you mentioned something about documentation, but what documentation and why?
Govindan Sharanji: The dos version of this BIOS update was not released since this update was for some windows driver issue.
lspci lsblk: Ooooh
lspci lsblk: so yall didn't just drop it 'cause yall decided to only support Windows from now on?
Govindan Sharanji: No.
Apparently there was a Windows driver issue and the BIOS update was developed in an effort to fix that, which is why there's no DOS version since the update only applies to Windows.
So do I just need to download FreeDOS now and boot up with that or will they include their own custom version of FreeDOS in the zip archive?
Last edited by lspci (2012-09-21 14:16:06)

G550 BIOS update failed. Reset CMOS?

The BIOS update from Lenovo failed on my G550 rendering it useless. I get fan and HDD action and all LEDs light up but NOTHING on screen... The CMOS battery is soldered or glued in. Where are the CMOS jumpers?

Hello,
I'm new to BIOS issues, and this one sort of takes the cake. I tried to update my Lenovo G550 (serial 2958)'s BIOS to the updated x64_18CN44WW_(2.53) bios, and the computer crashed most of the way through. Now I'm dealing with a bricked Lenovo. I understand that there are warnings about letting the computer go to sleep before updating the BIOS, which I did, but I simply didn't look deeply enough to find these warnings before I attempted the update. But that doesn't matter now.
What does matter is that I'm working with a Lenovo that needs a reflashed BIOS, and right now I'm working through the options provided by this website:
http://forums.mydigitallife.info/threads/2105-BIOS-Recovery-procedures
I've tried Method 1 with NTSF partitioning (on a 4GB USB stick), and Method 1 with FAT partitioning (on a 1GB USB stick), both with no success. I'm doing this with the 2.53 BIOS file from the lenovo website's updated installer, as I don't have the backup BIOS handy (it's saved on the bricked laptop).
I need some information to help me either fix my laptop. Specifically, does the Lenovo G550 (Serial 2958) definitely have a Phoenix BIOS? Are there any reports of a USB stick boot being used to successfully flash a bricked computer using the Fn-B boot method? Does the motherboard have a Joint Action Test Group port? Are there any 'legacy' BIOS files I should try to use available to Lenovo staff? What's the course of action a tech would take if I sent my Lenovo in for repairs?

Satellite P500 - After BIOS update the number pad isn't working anymore

I just got a Satellite P500 and am running Windows 7. I downloaded all of the latest drivers and updated the system bios to version 1.70 (from Toshiba's support website). Now, my number pad on the keyboard is not working.
The numlock light is on and when I hit the "6" key on the number pad, it turns the light on/off but the behavior of the other keys does not change whether it is on or off. The "-" key enters a "6" but none of the other keys (except "enter" does anything.
I removed the keyboard driver and restarted to re-install the keyboard driver but that had not effect. The keyboard did work for a few days after I flashed the bios but seems to have stopped since I started using a USB mouse. I tried uninstalling the USB mouse driver but that did not do anything either (it was a Logitech driver).
Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance

I'm having this exact same issue, Did the BIOS update, which fixed the problem for Vista X64, formatted the machine to windows 7, Number pad keys except 6 and - Register as the Fn Button, Bringing up the function shortcuts display when pressed in windows, recovered from 7 to Vista X64 using Built in recovery partition, Problem still exactly the same. i have reset BIOS to defaults twice now, which has not resolved the issue. the next step will be to reflash the bios with the update again to see if this will fix the issue as it did once before. Laptop Model P500/025 Or Part number PSPE8A-025002
*EDIT: I reflashed the BIOS with 1.70 Again and the number pad is back to normal. Seems like an extreme fix for a silly problem. Every time you format you have to Reflash your bios, risky no?*
Message was edited by: Matrixion

After bios update, lights come on, screen does not

I installed the only bios update on the dv9610us page, and now my laptop boots to a black screen. The hard drive has been wiped and windows 8 was installed, so no recovery partitions are there. I did take out the hard drive and get the bios backup that the bios installer made, but I have no idea how to get the backup restored without an hp_tools partition

Hi @josephsmendoza ,
Thank you for visiting the HP Support Forums and Welcome. I have looked into your issue about your HP Pavilion dv9610us Notebook and issues with System recovery. Here is a link to the HP Support Assistant if you need it. Just download and run the application and it will help with the software and drivers on your system at the time of purchase.
Here are some options available using HP Recovery Manager that might help you out.
Did you make a recovery disk for the Original OS?
Hope this helps.
Thanks.
Please click “Accept as Solution ” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom to say “Thanks” for helping!

Tecra S3: BIOS update for Vista

I have a Tecra S3 notebook and I tried to install vista but it says i need to update my BIOS. Well I already have the latest version (v1.3) and no vista support.
Any help is appreciated
Thank you

Hello eddie
There is no much to say. If your unit has sticker Vista capable Toshiba will support it for Vista upgrade. When not I dont believe you will find Vista BIOS update in the future.
My Satellite M70 is also not Vista capable but I am really lucky and have preinstalled Vista on second partition.

BIOS update (F.1A)

Hello
I have a HP dv7 6195us new laptop. I have Win7 Ultimate multiboot with Win7 Home premium, Ubuntu and Fedora.
I intend to update my BIOS to the latest one (F.1A) on the support website since it adds BIOS support for switchable graphics. I'm aware of the consequences of unsuccessful BIOS update, so I'm a bit afraid to do it. I need to know if the multi-boot setup is going to pose any problems? I had also wiped out the recovery partition and the HP Tools partition while the multi-boot process and I no longer have the access to the HP in-built BIOS update feature.
Can somebody help me in getting the BIOS update done?
This question was solved.
View Solution.

Hi,
Did you create your set of Recovery DVDs?
The reason I'm asking is because although it sounds like a lot of hassle, the safest way to update your bios would be to return the notebook to factory conditions and then update the bios as the flash will then be performed outside of Windows when you restart which is about as safe as you're going to get.
Regards,
DP-K
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6710b notebook bios update from F.0B to F.10 or above

I have 3 HP notebooks here - all 6710b. All have XP Pro SP3 installed on them on replacement hard drives (no HP restore partition).Two of them have BIOS version F.0B and the third had version F.10.I downloaded the HPQFlash update for F.20 from the HP support site and ran it on the F.10 notebook as it wasn't fully installed and I could use it as a test machine.Everything went swimmingly well. It updated without a hitch and runs just fine. However, trying to update the other HP notebooks from F.0B to F.10 or higher. there doesn't appear to be a way to do it.
The HPQFlash utility (for F.20) tells me its not compatible and to update to at least F.10.
Earlier BIOS updates tell me to "Copy the SoftPaq to the file store". What *IS* "the file store" and there's no "softpaq" anything with the download???? That's where the RTF instructions just stop - there is no further info on what to do.They also say "This package is used to flash the System ROM on target notebooks in a network" - these laptops are stand-alone and do not/will not connect to a network and as far as I know they do not have SSM.
The instructions are not clear on what to do.The support pages just tell me to follow the instructions and voila - your BIOS update is complete!It has no help when the update will not do what it's meant to do or if it fails. Typical HP!
I have a DOS bootable USB stick and can boot from it to run other DOS-related stuff.
I can run the Rompaq exe and it will save the current bios but when I try to update it, it tells me it cannot read the media and I have no option but to abort the process.
So now I'm stuck!
Any suggestions on how to get from F.0B to F.10 or higher so I can run the HPQFlash to F.20??

Chris_82 wrote:
The HP Support Assistant application is recommending me to update the bios from my current F.12 version to F.17.
After reading several posts about my laptop model being "bricked" up after trying to install earlier bios versions from HP (F.15) I'm reluctant to update the version I now have.
Is there any benefit to updating to the F.17 version?
Has anyone had any problems going from F.12 to F.17?
Thanks,
Chris Hutchinson
F.17 resolved the issue where the BIOS upgrade fails. It should be safe to run. If you're not having any problems, I'd probably hold off until a later BIOS comes out that includes fixes/enhancements.

Need usb-based bios update for x301

I have no optical drive and I do not run Windows. I can boot from a USB drive, but I can not see a way to update the bios with it because there is only a .iso file (which requires an optical drive) or an install routine which is dependent on Windows.

uuuuuuuhhhhhh Mac user ?
This could be easier than you think, if you have a contemporary version of 7-Zip on *NIX kernel and you didn't specify your OS or any other suitable comrpession program should be able to open the *.exe and even any ISO's tucked inside an MSI file.
OR
Linux GRUB does this very well and you can format your USB stick as an mbr with minimal sized ext2 or /ext3 file system for bootstrap files then another partition to emulate your CD.
BUT, you have to do this completely on the USB drive since the method I know still doesn't support SATA disks, I learned how to do this at Linqui and the origtinal article is still at:
Before you learn a new way to use grub or try to learn grub and ext file systems for the first time,,,,, for some reason I recall a method and from Lenovo which updates the BIOS from a combination of Volume Shadow Copy and a reboot to finish it and doesn't require a CD.
It obstensibly was made for single spindle X systems, but are you absolutely sure that Bios update requires Windows since LINUX offers numerous utiltiies to compile and open
http://www.linqi.org/linux/lomd.html
Don't just sit there, take a second and use the Kudo's button to compliment the people who help you.

[(un)-SOLVED] BIOS update with wine?

Hi all,
I'd like to know if it is safe to update the BIOS via Wine. The problem is that my BIOS update does not run from DOS and I don't have any Vista partition on my HD (the BIOS update is only for Vista it seems). However, the program launch with Wine.
Thanks
EDIT: Nevermind... Wine can't reach the BIOS.
Although, if anyone has an idea as to how to upgrade a BIOS with an utility made for Vista... Please tell me.
Last edited by inXistant (2008-05-06 21:47:29)

I reflashed the firmware in my DVD writer via WINE the other day, without really thinking. About halfway through the process I came to my senses and spent the rest of it biting my nails and holding my breath. But it worked. (Didn't solve the problem I was having with it, mind you, but the thing still works as well as it ever did.)
I'd never try a BIOS update, though. Too risky even under "real" Windows, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Satellite Pro P200-15W: After Bios Update 1.90 fan incredibly noisy

Hi, I have a Toshiba Satellite Pro P200-15W, I've recently done a BIOS update to version 1.9 and seems to have been a big mistake :-/.
After restarting the computer I had a lot of software deconfig and now the fan has become incredibly noisy.
I have the problem with the Toshiba Vista registration software, I get this message: "Vista registration has stopped working". I've read other threads, I don't want to just disable it from the start.ini file, I'd like to actually solve the problem if there's a way.
Is there a way to change the fans configuration? I've read a Toshiba post about another notebook model that had the same problem of noisy fans after a BIOS update, they gave to that a solution with a new version of BIOS, is there a way to reverse the BIOS to the previous version? (will the restore CD be helpful for that purpose?)
Cheers
Edgard

Hi
It seems the fan table was changed and renewed in the new BIOS version and therefore the fans run ofttimes.
Why the fan table was changed?
Well, usually something like this is necessary to improve decrease the internal temperature while the CPU and GPU are running with full performance.
This helps to prevent the hardware from damage!!
Usually the Recovery CD formats the whole HDD (partitions too) and installs only the Toshiba image on the notebooks HDD.
The image contains the OS, drivers and additional software and has nothing to do with the BIOS update.
But you can try to recover the notebook to see if the software issues like "Vista registration" can be solved!
If you want to reverse the BIOS you have to contact the ASP in your country!!!
Sorry but this everything what I can suggest!
Best regards

[Solved] Reason for partition resize/move operatio requiring shifting?

Can anyone tell me the reason behind the process of resizing a partition "to the left" or moving the partition requiring shifting all data on it?
Why not keep the data where it is, and create "empty space" before it? It does work if you resize the partition "to the right", so why not the other way around?
Especially on SSDs, this makes zero sense. Is it some anachronism left from olden times? Or is it something about the structure of the filesystem?
Last edited by Soukyuu (2014-05-21 12:48:54)

Tl;dr: You can't know what the partition contains so the options are shifting to the left or keeping everything as is.
You are using partition and filesystem as synonyms and they are two different things. A filesystem is something that is written inside one or more partitions. Filesystems usually have a restriction, they must be placed somewhere specific relative to the start of the partition so that the os knows how to find them.
Assuming that when you say resizing you mean enlarging a partition (shrinking has it's own set of issues) then moving to the right requires no modification on the data since the position of the data of the filesystem relative to the start of the partition stays the same (most filesystems will need to be “enlarged” after the modification of the partition size to be able to use the new extra space). But when moving to the left, the position of the filesystems data relative to the start of the partition shifts. Updating the absolute references in the filesystem might sound simple but consider an encrypted filesystem that you can't read. What then? Or an lvm that may contain several (even nested) filesystems. Do you recurse through it? How about btrfs which is commpressed? Consider needing to handle ext2/3/4, fat, ntfs, etc, etc. What if you are running a custom made filesystem? What about a RAID where pieces of every file are on diferent disks/partitions/etc? How could the simple program that is changing the partition size know how to handle every type of filesystem that could be written in the partition? Decrypt, decompress, recursively check through logical partitions, have knowledge of every type of filesystem and how to update their references? And all of this doesn't consider the possibility of the user having stored any reference to the position of a file on another file, maybe even on another partition or disk. How do you update those? What about having a partition with no filesystem whatsoever? Raw data straight to disk (this is quite usual on embedded devices). How do you update that? Simple answer: you move everything to the left (or you don't move anything).

Partition resize + BIOS update

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