To create an external USB key to perform BIOS recovery, you need the following:
A working computer
An empty USB key
Download the latest BIOS for your computer or tablet from the Dell Drivers and downloads website.
Warning: All data on the USB key will be erased. Ensure that you save the files and folders from the USB key before proceeding to create a USB recovery key.
Creating the USB key:
Plug the USB key into the computer.
Press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer).
Right-click on the USB drive and click Format.
Change the File system to FAT32.
Check the box next to Quick Format.
Click Start to being formatting the USB key.
Copy the BIOS file to the USB key.
Open Command prompt in administrator mode.
In Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 - Press the Windows key + X on the keyboard to open a power user menu and select Command Prompt (Admin)
In Windows 7 or Windows Vista - Click the Start button and type command prompt in the search box. Right-click cmd in the search results and select Run as administrator.
In the command prompt window, type cd x: and press the Enter key, where 'x' is the drive letter of the USB key.
You can find the drive letter of the USB key in File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer)
Type dir and press the Enter key on the keyboard. You should see the name of the downloaded BIOS file.
Type ren xxxxx.exe BIOS_IMG.rcv and press the Enter key.
(Replace the xxxxx with the name of the downloaded BIOS file.)
Note: Please include the space between
xxxxx.exe and
BIOS_IMG.rcv.
Note: The
Recovery from a USB key method is recommended as the best option for
Alienware and XPS owners. Those who are experiencing a
3,6 or
3,7 LED blink No POST error on startup on their Alienware R5/R6/R7/R8 or XPS 8910/8920/8930 systems can find "
step by step" troubleshooting instructions on the following article:
Hey guys, I had the same issue on my Optiplex 7070. The BIOS update would not work with any of the Dell update utilities or manually downloading / launching the .exe. Under add or remove programs / choose where to get apps, I changed my settings to only allow apps to be installed from the Microsoft store only. I then manually ran the 1.5.1 update .exe file again and everything actually worked... My machine rebooted as normal and the BIOS update processed perfectly.
Hope this helps and Dell certainly has a bug with both Support Assist and Dell Update.
I've also encountered this recently where some 7070 machines will take the BIOS updates, while others will not. Then I found this article and recall now that as we rolled out several new machines earlier this year that you had to have a monitor attached and turned ON before it would take the BIOS update. Same is true with these that wouldn't update remotely. The user had turned off their monitor before they went home, and thus I couldn't remotely update.
Wow thanks, agree! Why in the world would you require a monitor to update the BIOS? Enterprise pain. Do you know how much time I wasted on this? I had 1.4.2 on dozens of lab machines. Now I have to move/mount monitor to each one.. The new bios 1.8.0 for 7060 has not listed help option about novideo! Please update your help file in new releases.
I've noticed recently that under Windows 10 when one runs Windows Update manually, the new BIOS (firmware update) is also included as an optional update. I don't know however if a monitor is needed in this case too or not.
I confirm this is the root cause. I'm already used to connect my monitor via USB-C and I was facing exactly the same problem. BIOS update did not initiate after restart. When I hooked up the monitor via DVI, it went just fine.
Today I tried to update my Optiplex 5070 and the BIOS skipped the update and reloaded Windows, several times. After reading these comments, I realized I had both monitors connected to the motherboard's DisplayPort jacks, but I also had an unused graphics card still attached to the PCI bus. So I moved my monitors to the graphics card and the BIOS updated!
speedstep
9 Legend
•
47K Posts
0
July 3rd, 2020 10:00
Make USB flash and do Bios recovery with the bios you want to update to.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln300716/how-to-recover-the-bios-on-a-dell-computer-or-tablet?lang=en#:~:text=%20How%20do%20I%20initiate%20BIOS%20Recovery%20on,Enter%20key%20to%20start%20the%20recovery...%20More%20
To create an external USB key to perform BIOS recovery, you need the following:
Creating the USB key:
Plug the USB key into the computer.
Press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer).
Right-click on the USB drive and click Format.
Change the File system to FAT32.
Check the box next to Quick Format.
Click Start to being formatting the USB key.
Copy the BIOS file to the USB key.
Open Command prompt in administrator mode.
In Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 - Press the Windows key + X on the keyboard to open a power user menu and select Command Prompt (Admin)
In Windows 7 or Windows Vista - Click the Start button and type command prompt in the search box. Right-click cmd in the search results and select Run as administrator.
In the command prompt window, type cd x: and press the Enter key, where 'x' is the drive letter of the USB key.
You can find the drive letter of the USB key in File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer)
Type dir and press the Enter key on the keyboard. You should see the name of the downloaded BIOS file.
Type ren xxxxx.exe BIOS_IMG.rcv and press the Enter key.
(Replace the xxxxx with the name of the downloaded BIOS file.)
aron13
1 Rookie
•
3 Posts
0
July 7th, 2020 06:00
I need to deploy this to a bunch of remote computers.....this is not a suitable enterprise solution.
Rog1234
1 Message
0
October 10th, 2020 16:00
Hey guys, I had the same issue on my Optiplex 7070. The BIOS update would not work with any of the Dell update utilities or manually downloading / launching the .exe. Under add or remove programs / choose where to get apps, I changed my settings to only allow apps to be installed from the Microsoft store only. I then manually ran the 1.5.1 update .exe file again and everything actually worked... My machine rebooted as normal and the BIOS update processed perfectly.
Hope this helps and Dell certainly has a bug with both Support Assist and Dell Update.
Roger
dancocke
1 Message
1
October 22nd, 2020 17:00
I've also encountered this recently where some 7070 machines will take the BIOS updates, while others will not. Then I found this article and recall now that as we rolled out several new machines earlier this year that you had to have a monitor attached and turned ON before it would take the BIOS update. Same is true with these that wouldn't update remotely. The user had turned off their monitor before they went home, and thus I couldn't remotely update.
https://www.dell.com/support/article/en-us/sln322239/update-the-bios-on-an-optiplex-3070-or-7070-without-using-a-monitor?lang=en
Dell engineers, why did you think this was a good idea to prevent BIOS updates on machines that run headless?
j280zees
5 Posts
0
November 24th, 2020 11:00
Wow thanks, agree! Why in the world would you require a monitor to update the BIOS? Enterprise pain. Do you know how much time I wasted on this? I had 1.4.2 on dozens of lab machines. Now I have to move/mount monitor to each one.. The new bios 1.8.0 for 7060 has not listed help option about novideo! Please update your help file in new releases.
zyad_a65
1 Message
0
March 3rd, 2021 07:00
In the BIOS options, Disable the SMM Security Mitigation (under Security), and restart your Task Sequence...
Good luck!
R. Vachon
tibi500cid
2 Intern
•
146 Posts
0
August 4th, 2021 08:00
I've noticed recently that under Windows 10 when one runs Windows Update manually, the new BIOS (firmware update) is also included as an optional update. I don't know however if a monitor is needed in this case too or not.
Martin Strnad
1 Message
1
August 4th, 2021 08:00
I confirm this is the root cause. I'm already used to connect my monitor via USB-C and I was facing exactly the same problem. BIOS update did not initiate after restart. When I hooked up the monitor via DVI, it went just fine.
udflyerjon
2 Posts
0
May 17th, 2022 10:00
Today I tried to update my Optiplex 5070 and the BIOS skipped the update and reloaded Windows, several times. After reading these comments, I realized I had both monitors connected to the motherboard's DisplayPort jacks, but I also had an unused graphics card still attached to the PCI bus. So I moved my monitors to the graphics card and the BIOS updated!
Does this make any sense? I think not.