Upgrading an old Bios
 

Following the purchase of a new hard drive, I have discovered that the bios on my computer does not see the true size of the hard drive.
I purchased a new award bios for the computer from esupport.com and followed the detailed instruction.
The Bios reported that it was unable to flash the ram as it was write protected.

1. how do i remove the write protection.
2. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can anyone give me some advice?.
the computer is a 1.8ghz medion pc with a bios date of 28/09/2001, bios version is ver6.00pg

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

you bought a bios???I want to hear how someone sells a bios :Yikes: how much did it cost??
Is the disc just not showing up in windows as the right size or in bios? if its just windows try this link and download program

www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Maxtor/menuitem.3c67e325e0a6b1f6294198b091346068/?channelpath=/en_us/Support/Software%20Downloads/ATA%20Hard%20Drives&downloadID=11

Need details on the motherboard make and model numbers please
This program will give you these
http://www.lavalys.com/products.php?lang=en home edition is free

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

NORMALLY. You download the BIOS update from the manufacturer's website for free!? Why, where and how did you buy it?

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

thanks guys, my mainboard is a micro-star MS-6534 and the reason for trying to flash the bios was that the current bios doesnt see all of my new 200ghz seagate hard drive.

I tried to find a free upgrade but kept getting directed to the esupport web page. they were offering flash bios upgrade for $29.95USD( £15.66) and for that you get a new bios plus the flash loader, sent by email.
I tried to flash the bios as instructed but a got a message that the bios ram was write protected.
hence my oringinal question, How do you remove the the write protectection from bios ram?
__________________

Further to my last post it would appear that pc world who made this medion pc have installed some kind of bios protection, as i purchase it new back in 2002 the support for this model seems have dried up.

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

Wow, this is the 1st time I've heard of having to pay for a bios update. Never had to do that myself. If I was you, I'd direct the question to MSI, or demand a refund as you can't use the product.

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

goto the msi web site and download the msi live update that should download and install new bios with out any bother

http://www.msi.com.tw/program/suppor...ist.php?kind=1

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

it looks to me as though you have had your eyeballs ripped out :disturbd: :disturbd: :disturbd:

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

you can download the latest bios here, though your best bet is live update. personally, i wouldn't trust anything thats not sourced directly from the motherboard manufacturer...

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

Only just a lot

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

You woz ROBBED!
http://www.badflash.com/removbio.htm - these guys charge less to supply AND pre-flash a chip.

Seriously, write protect can be applied at two levels, a jumper on the motherboard (get the motherboard manual), and a write protect option in the BIOS menu (the motherboard manual probably describes that as well)

If the motherboard is a Medion special (doesn't seem to be, as they tend not to have a standard MSI number), then some options may have been hidden in BIOS

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

thanks for all the info guys, glad i gave you all a lol, tried msi live update, no success.
tried the msi website, no joy only lists updates for ami bios, not award bios
checked the main board manual, only says there is a jumper to clear the cmos
checked medion pc website, all requests for bios upgrades should be made tp pc world, not alot i can say about that as they probaly charge more than an updated computer would cost.

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

have you tried removing cmos battery for a bit to see if that removes write protect,

Re: Upgrading an old Bios
 

thanks guys for all your help, i think its time to let this drop, although cable forum is one of the best forums around i dont seem to be able to get any real answers to my question, every thing that has been suggested i have tried.
As a last resort i will email msi to see if they can help, although i suspect the answer i recieve will be something along the lines of " we cannot control what bios other pc makers put onto our motherboards".

Once again thanks to every one for your help.