Extracting a BIOS file from Downloads

I am trying to extract a BIOS file for an older machine and put it on a uSB to flash the BIOS on that machine but when I extract the download I have no idea where the extracted file is going to.
Any help really appreciated - the file is encased in 7-Zip app.

If you are using 7-zip, you tell it where to extract to

If it is a self-extracting zip .exe file, then it should ask you where to extract to when you run it. If you have 7-Zip installed, then you can also right-click on the .exe and select 7-Zip > Open archive. In W11 that is on 'Show more options' menu.

Hmm well when I right-click on the download (it is labelled as 7-Zip file) I get two small options that I can hardly read and well it extracts the file to somewhere but I cannot find just where the files have been extracted to. I have always had a great dislike for zip files and I think it is ridiculous that what must be a small file should be zipped. Perhaps I had better try opening 7-Zip and trying to find the downloaded file from there?

ICIT2LOL said:

Hmm well when I right-click on the download (it is labelled as 7-Zip file) I get two small options that I can hardly read and well it extracts the file to somewhere but I cannot find just where the files have been extracted to.

Click to expand...

If you right-click on a .zip file in File Explorer and select Extract All... then you should be asked where you want to extract it to. The default is to a new folder in the same folder as the .zip file, and with the same name as the .zip file. If it is labelled as '7-Zip file' then it looks like you have set the default for opening .zip files as 7-Zip. If so that too should ask where you want to extract to, and will offer the same defaults.

Look for a folder with the same name as the zip file, and located in the same folder.

Ok Bree I have managed to extract the file to a USB drive but am now unsure whether to actually flash my older machine using the drive in case I brick the board the details of the file are really ambiguous. It is a machine that still has the original F1 BIOS version and I was thinking the new BIOS version (F6) would make my machine boot faster. I have to admit I am using Linux on this machine to try it out as it is an unsupported machine for Windows 11. Perhaps it is the Linux OS that is making the boot time so long. But thanks for the advice from you and the others for trying to help me out:)

Your computer specs say asus laptop. But you havent told us the exact model.

If you are on bios F1 and it is now up to F6 there have probably been quite a lot of changes.

Hiyya SIW mate I am using the Asus laptop to download the BIOS I wanted to flash the older machine (because it is quicker than my other machines). The machine I wanted the BIOS for is my old Sandy Bridge build which I am running a Linux distro on because the Sandy Bridge is not supported by Windows 11. It was only that the Linux was taking so long to boot to the system that I checked out the BIOS version in the hope that it might speed the machine up. I actually have a Windows 10 Pro version on another drive in the machine which seems to boot reasonably quickly so am going to leave flashing the BIOS for now and until I am sure I have the correct file on the stick I have - version F6 as the latest versions - F7 and F8 only list better HDMI support and little things like that - on plus I don't want to brick the board.

And you're still not going to tell us what the machine is that you are considering a BIOS update for?

BIOS updates are usually cumulative, but there are exceptions. Rarely, some PCs need to be updated to some intermediate BIOS before going to the latest.

Not knowing about the PC in question, I won't speculate.

Many sandybridge mobos can support ivybridge after bios update. That would allow a cpu upgrade which still doesnt "officially" support win11, but they are cheap as chips now so might be worth doing

You still havent told us what the mobo is that the bios update is for.

Is it a secret?

Hello SIW sorry the late reply mate the board is a Gigabyte GA-H67A-UD3H-B3 with an Intel i5 2500 installed. Like I said the machine boots up with Windows 10 fairly quickly it is just the Linux Mint I am trying out that boots slowly and I get the impression that the hard drive is accessed at power up but takes a long time to activate for want of a better term the start up of the OS. Whether this is just the Linux system or what I don't know.

Well I managed to get the BIOS update I wanted and have successfully updated the BIOS - not the latest as it only added something to HDMI on the F8 version and I just wanted to have something that would increase the boot speed on the old machine so version F6 was the latest with system stability etc on it and it seems to have done the trick with Windows at least now all I have to do is try te Linux drive. But thanks to all of you who have advised me on the query I posted:)

Is it this ? The previous f5 was for hdmi. The newer f7 and f8 support ivybridge and improve usb3

Thanks, SIW I have version F6 on the machine right now and although it speeded up the Windows 10 boot it hasn't done so with the Linux drive which I am posting from right now.
To be honest I don't think it is worth upgrading to the Ivy Bridge chip as the Sandy Bridge is operating at 3.3Ghz anyway and it seems to be quite adequate for what I want out of the old girl.