Error in EXE file when flashing BIOS

I was able to create a bootable USB drive that booted into Windows 98 DOS. I ran D620_A05.exe from the command line. The program loaded but gave me the following error. It seems as though I am stuck without any options.

"Cannot run under a protected environment."

I am in the same boat. I attempted to update my D620 from A04 to A05. The D620_A05.exe program started fine but then said I didn't have enough memory to keep running it. This was a surprise to me since I shouldn't have had any memory issues. I restarted and tried it again. This time, instead of even attempting to run, it instantly gives me the exact same error message that George received.

Dell wants to send me a new motherboard, but everything is working fine other than not being able to use the bios update utility. I don't have access to a USB floppy drive, so I haven't been able to try updating in DOS.

I would like to find a way to get this program to run rather than having to replace my motherboard. I appreciate any help.

---Error Message---

Latitude D620 BIOS Flash A05

An unexpected error occured while running the Flash application. Please reboot and try again.

If the error continues, please contact technical help.

Application Error Return: 0x00000610
Windows Error Return: 0x00000002

Not sure if this would help any, but here's a screen shot of the error message I receive when running D620_A05.exe

After exhaustively talking with Dell Support, I was told:

"Well I'm documenting the issue and submitting feedback through the appropriate channels. Eventually it'll either be fixed through a new file to download, or we'll get a knowledge base article that addresses the issue and has a resolution."

My biggest problem isn't that I can't update just to A05, but it's that I will never be able to update my BIOS ever again. I feel like that will be the problem because I get the same error when I run the A04 flash application. It seems to be a program error and not a bios error.

So... I'm glad they are looking into it, and I look forward to being able to flash with A06 if there ever is one.

I did something similar as RATickle. I created a bootable USB flash drive with a simple DOS image instead of the Win98 DOS that protects the BIOS from being flashed. I can confirm that it lets you flash the BIOS this way. I just downloaded the newest A07 for my D620, and it still gives me that error when trying to flash it in Windows. I guess I will have to stick with doing it the DOS way.

To preface, it's been quite a while since I made this bootable drive, and I am writing from memory. I don't think I've missed anything, but I certainly could have. Use one of the following links for help on making a bootable USB drive. I used the HP utility (HP Drive Key Boot Utility) to create mine which is discussed in both of these.

1) http://www.oreillynet.com/digitalmedia/blog/2004/10/utility_to_make_usb_flash_driv.html
2) http://www.bootdisk.com/pendrive.htm (method 2)

Note: I don't recall which bootable image I put on my USB drive. It's been a while. However, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I originally used the Windows 98 boot image, but that was a problem because it booted into some kind of Win98 virtual Dos environment that actually restricted access to the bios and wouldn't allow me to flash using the Dos version of the Dell bios flasher. I found a non-Win98 image at http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and moved the files onto my USB drive and it worked. I don't remember, but I think I downloaded one that was contained in a Zip file instead of EXE, because the EXE files many times want you to insert a floppy disk before continuing.

How to run the BIOS update utility from DOS environment (Non-Windows users).

NOTE: You will need to provide a bootable DOS diskette (bootable USB drive). This executable file does not create the DOS system files.

1) Copy the file D620_A08.EXE to a bootable floppy.
2) Boot from the floppy to the DOS prompt.
3) Run the file by typing Y:\D620_A08.EXE (where y is the drive letter where the executable is located).

Message Edited by one321 on 07-02-2007 10:53 AM

Message Edited by one321 on 07-02-2007 10:53 AM

one321 would you be so kind to describe the process of creating a bootable USB drive and the process of flashing with the Dos version in a couple sentences. I really don't want to mess this laptop up. It's one of those in our company that deserves special treatment.

Haha, duh. I should have first asked if you had a floppy drive. I didn't have access to a floppy drive when I did mine. The DOS flasher worked like a charm for me. I imagine some people refuse to even use Windows flashers because they still trust the DOS versions more. Good luck!

one321: thank you so much for the detailed instructions.

I've used a HP formated bootable disk before so that shouldn't be a problem. On second thought I might as well use a floppy drive and save myself some work. Just remembered we actually received a couple of those in our fist shipments.

Thank you yet again, hope I don't brick it.

This solution came from another post and has worked for me and others in situations like this. Be careful with Regedit as you can mess up other things, but you're trying to get rid of some Dell BIOS update keys that were created by running the flash program once, but now prevent the program from running again:

1. Click on start then run and type "regedit" in the box and press enter. (without the quotes)
2. Expand and Look for: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM ->ControlSet001 -> Services -> DELLBIOS
3. Delete DELLBIOS folder
4. Restart the system
5. Re-flash BIOS

Since I haven't had time/the opportunity to try flashing it using a USB key (a floppy won't do since the update file is quite big) I'll definitely give this a try.

Thank you very much for pointing this out, since it seems a lot more graceful.