Dell Precision 3541 and Latitude 5401/5501 System BIOS

- Once the BIOS is upgraded, you cannot downgrade BIOS EXE/ Recovery (RCV) to the versions before 1.6.1. BIOS downgrades are restricted when there are security updates and important fixes with earlier versions that impact the functionality of the system.
- If you want to downgrade to an older BIOS version, you may follow one of the below steps,
1. Use BIOS Flash Update in the F12 Boot menu to downgrade the BIOS.
2. Disable the SMM Security Mitigation option from BIOS setup menu before to attempt the downgrade in Windows operating system.
- BIOS updates take no more than 5 minutes to be installed on your system. You can install the updates in the background while using the system.

Updating the BIOS from Windows

Note 1: Before updating the BIOS, ensure that you suspend BitLocker encryption on a BitLocker-enabled system. If BitLocker is not enabled on your system, you can ignore this step. For information about how to disable BitLocker, see How to Enable or Disable BitLocker with TPM in Windows at support.dell.com.
Note 2: Do not turn off power or interrupt the BIOS update process during the update. Download and Installation
Note 3: Your system requires a restart after installing the BIOS. The restart can be deferred but must be completed to ensure that the update is installed.

Download and Installation
1. Click Download File.
2. Click Save to save the file to your hard drive.
3. Browse to the location where you downloaded the file.
4. Double-click the file.
5.Click Yes to open the BIOS update utility.
6. Click Update to initiate the update process. A progress bar is displayed.
7. Click Restart to restart the system once the progress bar reaches 100%.
The update process initiates at the Dell logo and an update initiation message is displayed with a progress bar. After the update finishes, the system automatically restarts.

Updating the BIOS from BIOS Boot Menu (independent of operating system)

Note 1: Before updating the BIOS, ensure that you suspend BitLocker encryption on a BitLocker-enabled system. If BitLocker is not enabled on your system, you can ignore this step. For information about how to disable BitLocker, see How to Enable or Disable BitLocker with TPM in Windows at support.dell.com.
Note 2: Do not turn off the power or interrupt the BIOS update process during the update.
Note 3: Your system requires a restart after installing the BIOS. The restart can be deferred but must be completed to ensure that the update is installed.

Installation
1. Copy the downloaded file to a USB drive. You do not need a bootable USB drive.
2. Insert the USB drive into any USB port.
3. Power on the system.
4. At the DELL logo screen, press F12 to access the one-time boot menu.
5. Select BIOS Flash Update in the Other Options section.
6. Click the ... button to browse the USB drive to locate the downloaded file.
7. Select the file and click OK.
8. Verify the existing system BIOS information and the BIOS update information.
9. Click Begin Flash Update.
10. Review the Warning message and click Yes to proceed with the update.
The system restarts and displays a Flash Progress bar at the Dell logo screen. The system restarts again when the Flash update is complete.