Do I really need to flash the bios

if the new bios doesn't address a problem you're having then there's no need to update.

BIOS revisions are put out to address problems with a older revision and add support for newer hardware, whether installed internally or added as a peripheral. I always update the BIOS on ALL of my PCs, desktops or notebooks, to the latest revision. Your mileage may vary but I have never had a problem doing the update.

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@bacillus wrote:
if the new bios doesn't address a problem you're having then there's no need to update.

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That's if the everything that's fixed is indeed disclosed by Dell. Which it isn't the case. I was struggling with video corruption and overheating issues with my 8600 w/ATI 9600 and updating to the latest system BIOS (A09) fixed it. Video and/or heat issues were never addressed in the .txt file describing the fixes. Keeping everything up to date is the best course.

If it ain't broke, it will be soon.

I agree with bacillius ...  while maintaining the latest BIOS will work in the long run, in the short run you are a beta tester for Dell.  (Many software vendors offer both latest production release and latest beta release; Dell makes no such distinction.)  If you need stability and can't afford the hiccups that may be introduced with a new version, then stick with the "if it ain't broke" approach and read the threads to discover any bugs before you upgrade.

I also like to keep my BIOS updates fairly current and suspect they sometimes address issues that are not disclosed. When I upgraded my Inspiron 8600 BIOS from A07 – A09 it seemed to have a positive impact on video game performance (just like Porkfatty mentioned). I don’t think my CPU or GPU is running any cooler, but it does not seem to throttle back performance during intense gameplay. I suspect an earlier BIOS update may have gotten too aggressive with throttling CPU and/or GPU performance when temps got high – thus resulting in poor gaming performance.

With that being said it should also be noted that BIOS updates are among the most risky software updates one can do. If for some reason the update fails midway through then it could leave your computer in an unusable state. My girlfriend also has an Inspiron 8600. I flashed hers from A08 – A09 while it was plugged into the APR (Advanced Port Replicator). The flash appeared to work fine, but the reboot froze on the BIOS screen. This scared the !@#$ out of me because it appeared the BIOS was corrupted. I had done BIOS updates over a dozen times with various Inspiron laptops in the past without ANY problems, so I was not expecting an issue. I had to undock and reboot the laptop for the reboot to complete. Subsequently I could reboot both with and without the APR so I don’t think there is an outstanding issue. But it seems for some reason that flashing from A08 – A09 has a little issue with the APR when it comes to the post flash reboot. Anyone else notice this condition?


Tony

Message Edited by anettis on 07-24-2004 09:41 PM

I agree.  It does eventually pay off to upgrade, but with caution.  My experience after waiting 1-year and checking others' results before taking the plunge was good, but there were a few minor issues.  (See http://delltalk.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_bios&message.id=26520 .)

Most recommend the floppy method as safest.  Worth borrowing or buying a floppy drive if you don't have one.  Best to K.I.S.S. and keep OS  and HDD exposure (risk of failure) to a bare minimum.  DOS does that.

I am not sure I buy into the “floppies are the safest way for flash a BIOS� theory. If you think about it a floppy disk is much more prone to failure – i.e. it is exposed to dust, dirt, bending, static, etc. while a HD is a sealed unit with a mean time between failure (MTBF) rate that is measured in hundreds of thousands of hours (or more). So it seems to me that the likelihood of experiencing a failure would be higher when flashing with a floppy – and since a failure occurring during the flash process can wreak havoc on a computer it seems to me that the HD approach may actually be safer (and certainly simpler). Besides floppy drives will probably not even be an option on laptops in the not too distant future.

For better or for worse I always use the HD approach.

:-)

Tony

The Windows procedure is not a problem on the newer Inspirons, only the older ones and I believe the problem is more Windows related than hardware related.

Just repeating what others have written ...  I agree that floppies are less reliable than HDD.  On the other hand, Windows is far more prone to crashes than DOS.  There is simply more going on that can fail.  Also, the DOS program executes entirely from RAM once the flash image is loaded and CRC32 checked.  RAM is more reliable than HDD (in the short term), especially on notebooks with inherent battery backup. That said, whatever is your "comfort zone" is probably the best choice for you.

Those who have ugpraded the 9100 BIOS to A3, can you tell me if there's any problem associated after installing it?