Vostro 5402 Service Manual

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Flashing the BIOS from the F12 One-Time boot menu

Updating your system BIOS using a BIOS update .exe file that is copied to a FAT32 USB drive and booting from the F12 one time boot menu.

About this task

BIOS Update

You can run the BIOS update file from Windows using a bootable USB drive or you can also update the BIOS from the F12 One-Time boot menu on the system.

Most Dell systems built after 2012 have this capability and you can confirm by booting your system to the F12 One-Time Boot Menu to see if BIOS UPDATE is listed as a boot option for your system. If the option is listed, then the BIOS supports this BIOS update option.

NOTE:Only systems with BIOS Flash Update option in the F12 One-Time Boot Menu can use this function.
Updating from the One-Time Boot Menu

To update your BIOS from the F12 One-Time boot menu, you need:

  • USB drive formatted to the FAT32 file system (key does not have to be bootable).
  • BIOS executable file that you downloaded from the Dell Support website and copied to the root of the USB drive.
  • AC power adapter that is connected to the system.
  • Functional system battery to flash the BIOS.

Perform the following steps to run the BIOS update flash process from the F12 menu:

CAUTION:Do not power off the system during the BIOS update process. Powering off the system could make the system fail to boot.

Steps

  1. From a power off state, insert the USB drive where you copied the flash into a USB port of the system .
  2. Power on the system and press the F12 key to access the One-Time Boot Menu.
  3. Select BIOS Update using the mouse or arrow keys then press Enter.

    Screen 1

    The Flash BIOS opens.
  4. Click Flash from file.

    Screen 2

  5. Select external USB device.
  6. Once the file is selected, double-click the flash target file and click Submit.

    Screen 3

  7. Click Update BIOS for the system to reboot and flash the BIOS.

    Screen 5

  8. Click Confirm Update BIOS.
    Screen 6
    Once complete, the system reboots and the BIOS update process is completed.

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