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Help--BIOS UPGRADE QUESTION
I am getting ready to upgrade to SP2. I am not sure if I have a Dimension 4300, or a 4300S. I know when I purchased my system, I requested the 4300S. I can not find any documentation which shows mine to be a 4300S. According to the Dell website, there is a bios upgrade for the 4300, but none for the 4300S. Any input on what I should do would be "greatly" appreciated.
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Majestic,
Thank you very much for responding to my question. I currently have the A-02 version. There have been a number of upgrades since, but I have had no problems with the hardware I now have connected. It seems to me that upgrading the BIOS is a little tricky...
- Well.... there is a slight element of risk upgrading the BIOS and for the average computer user it is generally recommended here "if it ain't broke.... then don't fix it." In otherwords if your present BIOS is working good and fully supports any installed hardware it is best left alone. That element of risk can range from the easy solution of having to clear the NVRAM to the worse case scenario of the BIOS upgrading going bad which will result in the trashing of your motherboard. For the average user that risk can not only be an additional headache, but also an additional expense if the machine is no longer in warranty. In your situation without a better clarification on the correct BIOS version to use I would be reluctant to try a 4300 BIOS file. Although most of the Dell BIOS upgrades won't install on a machine that it was not intended for, there is always the possibility that it might and then be incompatible with the system.
- Just for future reference.... I had some time this afternoon and downloaded the A06 BIOS version for the 4300 model as I wanted to check over the documentation. Although the file's release notes give no indication the upgrade can be used on a 4300s model, the program that actually creates the bootable BIOS upgrade floppy disk indicates that the A06 version is for both the 4300 and 4300s model. So even though it is poorly documented, the 4300 BIOS versions can be used on a 4300s.

Majestic
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Posted November 19th, 2004 12:00