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MV

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March 12th, 2018 20:00

Can’t update BIOS Alienware Aurora R4

So, I have an Alienware Aurora R4 with Windows 10. I've been having some crash issues when I open some video games (screen goes black or some random color and sometimes I hear a loud noise and computer shuts off, or I hear the game's sound in the background and I have to shut it off manually). I did Graphics Card (Nvidia GTX 660) and CPU (Intel Core i7) stress tests and both passed great. I tested my RAM (4 sticks of 4GB each) with memtest86 and got like 400+ errors (I know, awful). I did some research and everything suggested it was either my RAM or my PSU. So I borrowed a 4GB stick and an 800W PSU from my cousin. After testing both I find out that the computer still crashes when I open video games. I did some more research and found out that you should update the BIOS before testing for any hardware problems, thing that I didn't know. So I went to the Drivers section on Dell's website and downloaded the BIOS update executable. My BIOS is version A07 and the most updated version is A11. I tried running the BIOS update executable, it prompts me to reboot and then the update is supposed to start, however, it doesn't get updated and boots Windows right away. I also tried with a DOS bootable USB and I get the following error: Error 30: Problem opening file for reading. I also tried installing older versions of the BIOS so that I don't make such a big leap from A07 to A11. Tried with A09 and A10 (A08 doesn't exist for some reason) both by executing the file from Windows and from the DOS bootable USB and got the same errors. Sorry for such a long explanation. Can someone please help me figure out how to update my BIOS? Do you have any other suggestions of what the problem may be? Thank you in advance. :)

8 Wizard

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17K Posts

March 14th, 2018 21:00


@marco.venegas98wrote:
So, I have an Alienware Aurora R4 with Windows 10.

1. I tested my RAM (4 sticks of 4GB each) with memtest86 and got like 400+ errors (I know, awful).

2. My BIOS is version A07 and the most updated version is A11. I tried running the BIOS update executable, 

Sounds like you have at least two different issues (or your motherboard is toast).

1. That's crazy. I don't think even an old BIOS would cause that.

Both sets do that?

You want PassMark's https://www.memtest86.com/ ... not the other one.

2. Right, always try just the next one ... A08 or A09 (whichever is next). From DOS is safer. 

That error makes me wonder if the file is incorrect or corrupt on server.

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