Dell Precision M4700 System BIOS

Dell Fast Boot BIOS Feature:
The Dell Win8 Released BIOS adds a new feature called Fast Boot.
When upgrading from a Pre-Win8 Released BIOS to a Win8 Released BIOS this feature will be set in Thorough mode.
Setting this feature in Minimal will cause USB devices/ports to be disabled in the pre-OS environment.
If you are dependent on USB devices in the pre-OS environment this setting should remain in the Thorough mode setting.

Upgrading and Downgrading between Currently Released BIOS Images (Pre-Win8 Released BIOS) and Win8 Feature Enhanced BIOS Images (Win8 Released BIOS) Upgrading: The new Win8 Released BIOS contains new features and behavior, but the upgrade process for the end user is still unchanged.
Simply run the EXE application normally and the BIOS will handle incorporating the new features and logic with your current settings.
After the upgrade, you will immediately see that one of the visible changes is to the logo screen during boot, which only displays the logo at a larger size with no other information or text.

Downgrading:
Once a machine has a Win8 Released BIOS running on it, downgrading to a Pre-Win8 Released BIOS requires removing some unique functionality and security enhancements that are only present in a Win8 Released BIOS.
This downgrade process described here is specific to Win8 Released BIOS to Pre-Win8 Released BIOS transitions ONLY, and does not affect the normal rules/operations for downgrades of Pre-Win8 Released BIOS to an older Pre-Win8 Released BIOS, or Win8 Released BIOS to an older Win8 Released BIOS.
To install a Pre-Win8 Released BIOS on a machine running a Win8 Released BIOS, you will still use the same EXE application released for the BIOS version you wish to go to. When in Windows or DOS, your interaction with the application will be the same, but upon the machine restarting in order to do the update you will be prompted to accept the actions required in order to downgrade the machine and then prompted enter your admin password (if set). These prompts can not be accepted remotely and must be accepted by using an attached or built-in keyboard.
Due to compatibility of features, and ensuring platform stability, the only way to downgrade is to reset all the settings in the machine to a default factory state as if it had been shipped with a Pre-Win8 Released BIOS; specifically including defaulting the boot mode to Legacy (not UEFI), removing all passwords, and defaulting all user selectable settings.

The following is retained on the machine (all other settings are reset):
Windows Keys (if present), Service Tag, Asset Tag, Ownership Tag, Manufacturing Date, Ownership Date, and Express Service Code.
Downgrading is blocked if either Secure Boot is on or if Computrace has been activated. Due to security rules and protecting our machines from malicious attacks, if a user wishes to downgrade he/she must first ensure both of these are disabled or off.(Machines that are shipped out of the factory with Win8 Operating System are required to have Secure Boot initially on.)
After running the application, accepting the downgrading conditions prompts after restart, and the BIOS downgrading process is finished, the platform will be operating with the Pre-Win8 Released BIOS you desired.
You may then go to the Firmware Setup to change settings and configure the machine as needed.

Quickly Identifying if You Have a Win8 Released BIOS Installed:
To quickly tell if a machine has a Win8 Released BIOS on it, check if the boot screen does not display the model name and BIOS version under the logo.
This information, model name and BIOS version, are now found in the F12 menu on a Win8 BIOS.

BIOS Update Executable for Windows/DOS

Download
1. Click Download File to download the file.
2. When the File Download window appears, click Save to save the file to your hard drive.

Run the BIOS update utility from Windows environment
1. Browse to the location where you downloaded the file and double-click the new file.
2. Windows System will auto restart and update BIOS while system startup screen.
3. After BIOS update finished, system will auto reboot to take effect.

Run the BIOS update utility from DOS environment (Non-Windows users)
1. Copy the downloaded file to a bootable DOS USB key.
2. Power on the system, then Press F12 key and Select "USB Storage Device" and Boot to DOS prompt.
3. Run the file by typing copied file name where the executable is located.
4. DOS System will auto restart and update BIOS while system startup screen.
5. After BIOS update finished, system will auto reboot to take effect.

Run the BIOS update utility from DOS environment if UEFI Boot Mode (Non-Windows users)
1. Copy the downloaded file to a bootable DOS USB key.
2. Power on the system, then go to BIOS Setup by pressing F2 and go to "General > Boot Sequence > Boot List Option"
3. Change UEFI to Legacy of Boot List Option
4. Click "Apply", "Exit" to save changes and reboot system.
5. Press F12, then Select "USB Storage Device" and Boot to DOS prompt.
6. Run the file by typing copied file name where the executable is located.
7. After BIOS update finished, system will auto reboot .
8. Go to BIOS Setup by pressing F2 and go to General > Boot Sequence > Boot List Option"
9. Change "Legacy to UEFI Boot Option.
10. Click "Apply", "Exit" to save changes and reboot system.

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Note 1: You will need to provide a bootable DOS USB key. This executable file does not create the DOS system files.
Note 2: Please make sure you suspend BitLocker encryption before updating BIOS on a BitLocker enabled system.
If you don't enable BitLocker on your system you can ignore it.