7010, updating BIOS

The Dell splash screen tells you what version of BIOS you have.  Also, when the splash screen appears, F2 into BIOS, and the version you have is there.

For example, one can't jump from A09 to A29 BIOS just like that.  Using Dell Support Assist, it'll show you what BIOS downloads are needed along the way.  It was still simple.  Between A09 and A22 for my BIOS, I only had to download 1 or 2 BIOS in between.  May be like A11 and A14, then I could download A22.

Thanks for your assistance Savvy2. It was helpful!

Speedstep, your information was much appreciated too.

To all who assisted with my question, I apologize for all the posts; I have never used any type of Community support board like this before, but I do appreciate everyone's willingness to offer solutions and provide support!

Thank you bradthetechnut. Your post was helpful as well. 

Thanks again Savvy2.

You're welcome. :Smile:

No need to aplogize for your extra posts. :Smile:  Hopefully you know you can edit a post by tapping or clicking on the 3 dots on the upper right as long as you're signed in.

Dell Support Assist no longer supports Windows 7. So, I have two questions for you regarding my mother's 7010 MT that is currently running Windows 7::

1) Is it okay to upgrade her computer to Windows 10 if the BIOS is A19 so that it can run Dell Support Assist in order to determine which BIOS update steps are needed between A19 and A29?

2) If your answer to #2 is "No," then which BIOS update steps should be taken between A19 and A29?

Thanks in advance!

netbids

You're question is up my alley since I still own a 7010.

Yes, first update to Win10.

On a working PC, you will be downloading Win10 to an 8GB or bigger blank flash drive formatted to FAT32.  They often come formatted that way anyway.  Download Windows 10 Disc Image (ISO File) Microsoft Site   Download the ISO.  It will be in your Downloads folder.  With flash drive inserted, click on the ISO and follow onscreen instructions   Win10 will then be loaded on the flash drive.  Takes a little while.  When ready to load Win10 from flash drive, boot from from flash drive on your PC to load Win10.

When a window pops up asking what partition to load Win10 on, delete all previous partitions if reusing a boot drive.  Then click on Next or Install.  Win10 will then automatically create the appropriate partitions and load.  When a window pops up asking for product key, click on link that says "I do not have a product key."  Win10 will then continue to install using the product key that's imbedded in BIOS.  You'll still need to activate it online.  I've done this myself and it works smoothly.

After Win10 is installed, go to Start Menu > Settings > Update & Security  Go to Optional updates.  You'll see a list of drivers including firmware   Firmware is BIOS.  Not realizing that right away due to a little brain overload, I clicked on everything and then Install.  This was on my Precision 3620.  It all went smoothly.  When it got to BIOS, it gave the warning message in red letters that it's updating BIOS and to NOT turn off computer  Nothing can interrupt a BIOS update.  Otherwise, there's the risk of bricking the MB.

If by chance updating BIOS doesn't work thru Win10, update BIOS from the Dell site a couple steps at a time as Dell recommends.  Meaning go to A21, then A23, and so on.  Some people may dispute that and just go to the latest BIOS.  I'm just relaying what Dell recommends.  BIOS can be downloaded to FAT32 flash drive, then update from flash drive.  When updating BIOS from the Dell site, be sure to heed all notes, cautions, and warnings.

As for updating BIOS thru Dell Support Assist - I haven't done that so I don't know how well it works.  Some people haven't had the best of luck with DSA, but I've used it on a 790 (7010's predecessor) with Win7 to update drivers.  Went smoothly and at the time had to run it off of cell phone hotspot.  It also works smoothly on my 3620.

Also, make sure your size 2032 battery is good in the 7010 before proceeding with anything, especially BIOS updates.  Either test it or replace with new, especially if 5+ years old.

Thanks for the detailed reply. I already have the Windows 10 ISO on a DVD per the instructions in the following article:

https://www.zdnet.com/article/heres-how-you-can-still-get-a-free-windows-10-upgrade/?fbclid=IwAR0_UhNl6SsYqlp9UgA0F-g4Q3_JuN8LWj-0p1Cdtkyz9LWD9ZVJp5MsrJc

I also recently had my nephew partition the HDD into four partitions because he suggested installing Linux Mint on it as an alternative boot option. The two additional partitions are for data (one for Windows and one for Linux). Previously, the HDD only had two partitions on it---one for the OS and one for Diagnostics. The Diagnostics are still there on the second partition along with the data. So, my plan is to upgrade Windows 7 on the primary boot partition (which is about 75 GB) to Windows 10 and then update the BIOS per your instructions above. However, the computer is my mother's, and she lives in Pennsylvania, but I live in New Mexico. Therefore, I would have to walk her through the process, which is fairly straightforward because I upgraded two of my own PCs to Windows 10 on the same day that the free upgrade allegedly expired years ago. I should also mention that the CMOS battery was replaced yesterday by my cousin who lives a few miles away from my mother, so I believe the PC is now ready for Windows 10.

Which gives me an idea.  Suggestion:  Do all of that on an SSD and have your cousin set it up.  I'm also sure you can send cousin link to this thread.

I mention because Win10  restarts and updates are painfully slow on an HDD and relatively much quicker on an SSD.

I'm aware of how much faster SSDs are than HDDs, so I'm planning to send my mother a 500 GB SSD from one of my two computers when I have time to replace them with 1 TB SSDs. (One is an Optiplex 760 and the other is an Optiplex 780.) My cousin doesn't know anything about computers and has never owned one, so I'm planning to have my nephew install the SSD and clone the boot partition from the HDD when he has time. He did the same thing after installing a second HDD that I sent to my mother several months ago, but he's been extremely busy lately, which is why I asked my cousin to change the CMOS battery (I showed him a video of it being done and then walked him through the process while my mother was there.) The extra time it will take to upgrade my mother's PC to Windows 10 on her 250 GB HDD won't really be an issue for her because she only uses the computer for Facebook, email, and an occasional Google search (btw, she's 86 years old). I just want to make sure that the other three partitions will be kept intact during the upgrade process and that the upgrade process will be successful without any hiccups. If a problem does occur that prevents the upgrade from completing, I can restore Windows 7 from a backup of the boot partition that's on the second HDD. I can also have her reboot from the second hard drive until I figure out the solution to the botched Windows 10 upgrade. Doing all this from 2000 miles away wouldn't be possible without Splashtop or Teamviewer (I have both installed). However, I'm more concerned about running into problems with the BIOS updates after the Windows 10 upgrade is done because of the horror stories I've read about that other people have had. I'm also a bit concerned about one or more of the BIOS settings being incorrect if the updates are successful because I can't view and change the settings in Setup on her computer from here if one of them is incorrect. Have you encountered such issues when you updated the BIOS on your 7010?

BTW, I just checked the partitions on my mother's main boot HDD and noticed that it doesn't have a 100 MB System partition that Windows 7 installations typically have. I don't think this will be a problem because my 760 didn't have one either after I upgraded to Windows 7 from Windows XP.  (Windows 10 installations typically have a 500 MB System partition.) I also checked the disk space, which is about 40 GB free on a 75 GB partition. This should be enough space to do the upgrade, correct?

I highly suggest 8GB RAM as the system will be a little slower on 4GB.  After typing that, I was reminded of your mother's uses, so 4GB should be ok.

I didn't have to update the BIOS on my 7010 as it came with A29.  I did update BIOS on my previous 755 and my current Precision 3620.

If your cousin doesn't know anything about PC's, then I suggest leaving BIOS rather than chance bricking MB.  If your busy nephew has done it already, that could work.