When you replace hardware, such as the processor, the basic software may fail to recognize the new component. In such cases, a BIOS update is often a quick, though not entirely straight­for­ward, solution to resolve this issue.

When should you perform a BIOS update?

A BIOS update should not be performed without a valid reason. It is a rel­a­tive­ly critical process, and if something goes wrong, it could render your system unusable. Therefore, you should only update the BIOS in one of the following scenarios:

  1. Com­pat­i­bil­i­ty issues: If you have installed new hardware (e.g., a processor, RAM, or graphics card) and the system does not recognize or support it correctly. A BIOS update can improve support for new hardware.
  2. Stability problems: If your system is unstable, fre­quent­ly crashes, or en­coun­ters un­ex­plained errors, a BIOS update may resolve these issues, as man­u­fac­tur­ers often include important bug fixes in new versions.
  3. Man­u­fac­tur­er rec­om­men­da­tion: In rare cases, man­u­fac­tur­ers may recommend a BIOS update after releasing sig­nif­i­cant im­prove­ments or critical fixes in a new version.
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What prepa­ra­tions should be made for a BIOS update?

To perform a BIOS update, you first need to determine the man­u­fac­tur­er and model of your moth­er­board. This ensures you install the correct update. There are several ways to find this in­for­ma­tion. If you still have the moth­er­board manual, it will usually include the necessary details. In­for­ma­tion about the man­u­fac­tur­er and model can also often be found directly on the moth­er­board itself.

On Windows, you can also find this in­for­ma­tion in the System In­for­ma­tion tool, which you can easily open using the search function. Here, you can also view the current BIOS version being used.

Image: Windows 11: System Information
In Windows 11, you can find all important in­for­ma­tion about your current BIOS in the System In­for­ma­tion tool.
Tip

If you have pre­vi­ous­ly con­fig­ured specific hardware settings in the BIOS, it is advisable to write them down in prepa­ra­tion for the update. The like­li­hood is high that the update will reset the con­fig­u­ra­tion to factory defaults.

How to perform a BIOS update

Step 1: Download the ap­pro­pri­ate BIOS update

Once you have iden­ti­fied your moth­er­board details, search for the ap­pro­pri­ate update files. These are usually available on the moth­er­board man­u­fac­tur­er’s website. Before down­load­ing, ensure that you have selected the files for the correct moth­er­board version. Often, the various versions differ by only a number or a letter in their des­ig­na­tion.

Step 2: Transfer the BIOS update to a USB drive

In the next step, save the files onto a USB drive—a simple USB stick will suffice. The files are often in a ZIP archive. Extract the ZIP file and follow the man­u­fac­tur­er’s in­struc­tions for the BIOS update. In some cases, you may need to rename the extracted file after unpacking it.

Note

Never download files from untrusted websites. Es­pe­cial­ly for BIOS updates, make sure you only use official man­u­fac­tur­er sites. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, it is a good idea to create a backup of your entire system before pro­ceed­ing with the update.

Step 3: Boot the system and perform the BIOS update

Now restart your computer with the USB drive con­tain­ing the update files connected. During the boot process, enter the BIOS using the ap­pro­pri­ate key.

Note

Some man­u­fac­tur­ers offer special software that sim­pli­fies the BIOS update process. In such cases, you do not need to manually access the BIOS but can start the update process directly from Windows. Whether or not to use this as­sis­tance is up to you—the result is the same.

Fa­mil­iar­ize yourself with the BIOS interface. The update function may not be im­me­di­ate­ly visible on the main screen. Once you locate the relevant menu option, the software will typically guide you through the remaining steps. In most cases, you will simply need to specify the path to the connected USB drive to start the in­stal­la­tion. Once the process is complete, the computer will restart. This time, you can allow the PC or laptop to boot normally. The BIOS update should now be complete.

Detailed in­struc­tions for specific moth­er­boards can be found in the following articles:

What should you do if the BIOS update fails?

If problems occur during the update process, avoid turning off your device abruptly. Instead, try restart­ing the process or re­for­mat­ting the USB stick and down­load­ing the update again. If nothing works and you cannot restore the old BIOS version, contact the man­u­fac­tur­er. They may be able to assist in re­pro­gram­ming the BIOS chip.

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