BIOS update

Question

Just today my XPS M1710 (Vista Home Premium) prompted me to install a BIOS update which i duly did.   After downloading, i ran the program and an error message appeared advising:   'An unexpected error has occurred 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'   I have attempted to run this in safe mode but to no avail.   Anybody any ideas why its not working?

fernobulax · Answer

Hey Andy,

I was having the same problem and couldn't figure it out for the life of me. At first, Google wasn't much help but I finally managed to find a German site called xps-forum.de which had the exact error message. I did the Google translate thingy and came up with the following (kinda funny to read after translating):

The EXE installs a service with the name DellBIOS and the file C:\Windows\DellBIOS.sys. It can occur that this always cannot be started from whatever reason. That is announced and one is starting again.

Now the update program does not delete the SYS file however the provided Registry of entries, so that after the Reboot the file is not any longer found and Windows announces the error that the service cannot be started.

That is announced with the error message described above.

Solution:
In the Registry editor simply the entries for the service (service) DellBIOS delete. With me was the following:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet001 \ services \ DellBIOS
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ ControlSet003 \ services \ DellBIOS

Translation? Smoke the two entries above. For me only the ControlSet001 entry existed.

All credit goes to a fellow with username atzplzw, so this is the extent of my knowledge on the matter, but I can tell you that it worked great for me. I should note that I was also logged in as the computer administrator as well as running the BIOS update file as administrator. I'm not sure how necessary the account is, but running the update as admin is definitely required.

Of course, if the account is necessary you've got to be sure it's activated. Enter secpol.msc in the start menu search field, go to the Local Policies -> Security Options section and make sure that Accounts: Administrator account status is enabled. You can disable it again when you're done.

Good luck!

Nik

andyhart · Answer

I cannot thank you enough for this.   Worked first time. Thanks very much

fernobulax · Answer

No worries at all! This update was days of frustration for me, so I'm glad to share the info and it's good to know it worked for someone else.

JDHolt2006 · Answer

Worked like a champ.......Thanks all!

Super Roo · Answer

Worked for me as well... after I rebooted... Update program 'run as administrator'.  Interestingly enough, I asked Dell Support about this problem... and their recommendation was to not bother about the update, if the machine was working OK with the earlier BIOS version!!!   BTW... I also tried to set up an Administrator account using the tutorial supplied... but to no avail.  Also secpol.msc could not be found... well at least not using Home Premium.   Anyway... thanks for the information... certainly more helpful than Dell themselves!!!  :-)

fernobulax · Answer

No worries, I'm just glad I found that German forum (and that Google could translate it - sort of).   I never thought about the secpol thing not working -- must be a Vista Business/Ultimate thing. It's good to know for next time that I just have to run as administrator and not go through all that hassle :smileyhappy:.   Hopefully Dell support reads this -- it's a simple fix and will save both sides a whole lot of time.

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