Install bios driver without operating system

You need to prepare and load the SATA drivers in particular if the media is pre-service pack 1 and the media refresh update see:

http://dellwindowsreinstallationguide.com/a-clean-install-of-windows/downloading-preparing-and-loading-sata-drivers/

http://ftp.dell.com/FOLDER44165M/1/SATA_DRVR_WIN_R268416.EXE

So, what Dell is saying, I only way to upgrade a computer of theirs if I do not agree with the MS Windows license, is to drive to the nearest service centre (which could be next door or hours away), and hope that they do not chareg you or hush you away for requesting an update which should work from inside the setup (ie. ASUS EZ Flash).

I used the method described by dz fun.

create the bootable USB using the Rufus program.

copy the BIOS installer .exe ( fro Dell ) on to that in addition to the other stuff that's on there.

boot from the USB.

execute the update from the command line by typing it's name.

once this is done continue with your installation.

I followed the instructions posted by dz_fun, which worked perfectly. Using a 16mb usb flash drive, I downloaded RUFUS, formatted the usb drive as freeDOS, then copied the Dell exe file to the drive. I inserted the drive, rebooted, and tapped the F12 key. The computer booted from the usb drive. At the c:\ prompt, I typed in the name of the exe file (for example, D9100A03.exe), and hit , after which I followed the text prompts. This was by far the easiest solution I have seen posted to this issue. In my particular case, I was attempting to update a BIOS on a Dell 9100. For reasons as yet unknown, I could not run the file as Administrator in Windows 7 (the OS had been upgraded from Windows XP), even though there was no registry entry for a prior BIOS update (and therefore no registry entry to delete.)

Boot to the Hiren's boot CD and launch the BIOS upgrade from the mini-windows environment.

Unmount/Eject the cd as the system initially shuts down.

Boot to a Hiren's boot CD and launch the BIOS upgrade from the Mini-Windows environment.

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@keez57 wrote:
I've tried all the suggestions above . Thought the Hirins disk idea sounded most promising but even that came up with an error when running the exe file in Hirins windows environment. Sounds like you can't update the Dell Bios without windows installed on the machine.

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Not sure which laptop you have.

I was able to update BIOS on Latitude E6400 using FREEDOS on a USB flash drive.

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just....: WOW what a great answer! That shows how Dell is teksavvy... im on a laptop without hdd and want to update the bios to "maybe" that sdcard can be recognised like a boot option drive..  installed some debian distro on that sdcard and now cant boot grub from it. that is already frustrating.. and now dell tells me i need windows to update the bios that surely will not be able to boot that card even after ?? haha let me laugh at you. poor guys, poor company. ! i need an asus!

You can do this with the "update Bios" menu in the one time boot option(F12)

https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln305230/flashing-the-bios-from-the-f12-one-time-boot-menu?lang=en

dz_fun, thank you SO MUCH for your response. This worked perfectly!

I followed your steps except I cannot edit startnet.cmd because whenever I navigate into winpe_x86\mount\windows\ the file explorer automatically closes itself. So I decided to put my BIOS Flash File into the pendrive's root directory and see if I can run it manually when after booting, but the result is I cannot see it when I use command dir at root directory.

glad that you responsed....it worked perfectly