Solved How do I manage BIOS content?

desertdad · May 29, 2022

I'm at .675 as of ten minutes after I took the pics...no problems so far. Too bad the 'since' date doesn't reflect the seven and eight and ten forums. I have been saved many times over the years. Was there a 'Win95 Forums'?

SmokeMe · May 29, 2022

Ghot said:
I see your BIOS has a Tools tab.
You might want to check there, for a way to "save" your BIOS settings, as well.

This is from one of my very old (15+ years ago?), ASUS motherboard manuals...

View attachment 30249

I took a Look at the Tool tab in the MB BIOS.
It is not what I had hoped for & not wanting to dick w/ a working BIOS I quit after the 2nd screenshot below.
It would be nice if one could get a Text file w/ their settings choices but that probably ain't gonna happen

Main Rig Q370M-C_ 1bFlashDrive Apps (6b).jpg

Main Rig Q370M-C_ 1bFlashDrive Apps (7b).jpg

desertdad · May 29, 2022

SmokeMe, Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at that. Funny, I always seem to be holding my breath when I exit out of the BIOS...just paranoid. The Dell 8950 is mine and my wife gets the 7090 when the dust settles.:)

Ghot · May 29, 2022

SmokeMe said:
I took a Look at the Tool tab in the MB BIOS.
It is not what I had hoped for & not wanting to dick w/ a working BIOS I quit after the 2nd screenshot below.
It would be nice if one could get a Text file w/ their settings choices but that probably ain't gonna happen

View attachment 30317 View attachment 30318

Ah well. Maybe they only add the ability to backup the BIOS to certain level motherboards?

desertdad said:
SmokeMe, Thanks for the tip. I'll take a look at that. Funny, I always seem to be holding my breath when I exit out of the BIOS...just paranoid. The Dell 8950 is mine and my wife gets the 7090 when the dust settles.:)

Did you investigate that link I put in post #3, for DELL Commander?
That should do, what you are attempting.

Here it is, again...

Dell Command | Configure Version 3.1 User's Guide | Dell US

desertdad · May 29, 2022

Just came up after a 8950 boot...No Tools tab or anything that hints at export/list/save etc. It is an APTIO bios.. Worth a try. I'll take a look at the 9070 boot to see what it says. Based on the last couple of weeks the 9070 seems to be a commercial version of a minitower while the 8950 seems more like a retail version. Same general form factor but lots of differences under the covers.

NavyLCDR · May 29, 2022

geneo said:
Practically any BIOS update on any motherboard will reset to default values. THis is becauae changes in the BIOS might invalidate some settings.

Then why after doing dozens of BIOS updates on dozens of motherboards both factory built and home built systems, I have NEVER had a BIOS update reset to default values? Asus, Dell, HP, MSI, ACER - none of them have reset to defaults after doing a BIOS update. Both UEFI and way back to legacy BIOS from the 90's.

glasskuter · May 29, 2022

I am in complete agreement with @NavyLCDR. In 30 years the only time I have had a bios reset to default is when I reset it to default, never through a bios update.

desertdad · May 30, 2022

SmokeMe, I just went through the 9070 boot and looked specifically for any indication of a save/export/list of BIOS settings. Nada. One thing interesting is there is a setting for loading back level BIOS. I don't remember seeing that in the 8950 BIOS settings.
Given that I don't seem to be able to list the contents of the current BIOS that leaves me with the alternative of capture/store/retrieve any current BIOS for exercising the function of loading a back level BIOS in the future and hoping it helps recover from a bad download. There are plenty of examples of that happening. Macrium won't be of any help. I've been lucky in never having a bad BIOS update, but.....

desertdad · May 30, 2022

Ghot, Yes, I took a look at the link and the capability it alluded to. Pretty complex and for a business environment. Looked like a set of tools for building a custom BIOS 'package'. Seemed like it didn't meet my requirements, but thanks for the tip.
I guess I'll fall back to Plan B and concentrate on capturing and installing a back level BIOS using Dell tools.

Dru2 · May 30, 2022

glasskuter said:
I am in complete agreement with @NavyLCDR. In 30 years the only time I have had a bios reset to default is when I reset it to default, never through a bios update.

Well I have to disagree with you and navy. In the custom build PC world (in which I live), when you buy a motherboard, you'll need to customize the BIOS for the hardware used. Here, when you do a BIOS update, the BIOS will revert back to default. Anyway custom PC builder will tell you this.

And I've only been building since 1998, going with an every 4 year new build. I also have builds posted throughout the sister sites, with my last build in 2019 posted in tenforums. In every one of those builds after a BIOS update, I have to reset things back to my custom settings. Again, any custom PC builder will tell you this. If they say otherwise, they've never touched the BIOS. But don't take my word, Google it :)

You're also informed to "Load Optimized Defaults" after a BIOS update. This is to insure your BIOS is works with the hardware installed.

With that, yeah, if you've never changed BIOS settings to begin with, than there's nothing to reset after a BIOS update

glasskuter · May 30, 2022

I was referring to brand computers where bios updates are issued by the manufacturers based on the model of the system. I can't speak for custom builds so would not disagree with those of you who are builders as I am not one myself.

NavyLCDR · May 30, 2022

Dru2 said:
Well I have to disagree with you and navy. In the custom build PC world (in which I live), when you buy a motherboard, you'll need to customize the BIOS for the hardware used. Here, when you do a BIOS update, the BIOS will revert back to default. Anyway custom PC builder will tell you this.

And I've only been building since 1998, going with an every 4 year new build. I also have builds posted throughout the sister sites, with my last build in 2019 posted in tenforums. In every one of those builds after a BIOS update, I have to reset things back to my custom settings. Again, any custom PC builder will tell you this. If they say otherwise, they've never touched the BIOS. But don't take my word, Google it :)

You're also informed to "Load Optimized Defaults" after a BIOS update. This is to insure your BIOS is works with the hardware installed.

With that, yeah, if you've never changed BIOS settings to begin with, than there's nothing to reset after a BIOS update

Well, then, that is the difference. I have never used a custom BIOS. I, like 99% of household computer users, have always used the BIOS supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard. And as long as it is the BIOS supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard that is being upgraded to the next version supplied by the manufacturer, it does not reset to default or optimized settings. Now, that being said, I have used customized firmware on routers before - and on those routers when flashing from the factory firmware to a custom firmware, settings were reset to default. However, in this thread, I did not realize we were discussing custom BIOS.

I agree, when flashing to a custom BIOS not supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard, expect settings to be reset.

Dru2 · May 30, 2022

glasskuter said:
I was referring to brand computers where bios updates are issued by the manufacturers based on the model of the system. I can't speak for custom builds so would not disagree with those of you who are builders as I am not one myself.

While this is somewhat true (if you never touch the BIOS), even there, if you make changes, a BIOS update will reset them.

Anyway, I was merely going by what you posted, thus my reply.

Peace

NavyLCDR · May 30, 2022

Dru2 said:
While this is somewhat true (if you never touch the BIOS), even there, if you make changes, a BIOS update will reset them.

Anyway, I was merely going by what you posted, thus my reply.

Peace

Again, in nearly 40 years with dozens of different computers in my history, it never has. I guess we live in different worlds.

Dru2 · May 30, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
Well, then, that is the difference. I have never used a custom BIOS. I, like 99% of household computer users, have always used the BIOS supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard. And as long as it is the BIOS supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard that is being upgraded to the next version supplied by the manufacturer, it does not reset to default or optimized settings. Now, that being said, I have used customized firmware on routers before - and on those routers when flashing from the factory firmware to a custom firmware, settings were reset to default. However, in this thread, I did not realize we were discussing custom BIOS.

I agree, when flashing to a custom BIOS not supplied by the manufacturer of the motherboard, expect settings to be reset.

To be clear, I use the example of "custom builds" (where you need to set up the BIOS), but any BIOS that had changes from the default values, will revert back to the default values when a BIOS update is done. It's simply the way BIOS updates work.

Now, as I said, if one never changed any settings (which most don't with store bought) then there would be no reset. But even on store bought, if one changed a setting, it WILL be reset back to default when a BIOS update is done.

As I said, don't believe me... Google it. In fact, you can even call a PC vendor and ask them. Of course, they're going to answer according to the question asked

BTW, how long have you been "building" PC's? I don't have 40 years, but I have been "building" since 1998 (once every 4 years)

With that, yeah, I guess we live in different worlds.

Try3 · May 30, 2022

Dru2 said:
any BIOS that had changes from the default values, will revert back to the default values when a BIOS update is done. It's simply the way BIOS updates work.

I have not experienced that. I have never known a Bios lose its custom settings after a Bios update.
~~Like NavyLCdr,~~ my computers have always been branded ones.

All the best,
Denis

Dru2 · May 30, 2022

Try3 said:
I have not experienced that. I have never known a Bios lose its custom settings after a Bios update.
Like NavyLCdr, my computers have always been branded ones.

All the best,
Denis

I stand by my statement as also proven elsewhere and not just by me. Not going to go down the "we don't want to admit defeat" argument.

Peace

NavyLCDR · May 30, 2022

I started custom building computers by upgrading 286s to 386s. I paid something like $400 for the first Intel Pentium with MMX just a few weeks after it was released and built a computer.

I make changes to BIOS settings as needed for virtual technology, graphics card settings, overlooking, memory profiles, TPM, SATA controller mode, RAID settings, power settings, etc. And they have always survived flashing to new BIOS version.

NavyLCDR · May 30, 2022

Try3 said:
I have not experienced that. I have never known a Bios lose its custom settings after a Bios update.
Like NavyLCdr, my computers have always been branded ones.

All the best,
Denis

My motherboards are off the shelf. I have a mixture of factory computers and home built computers assembled from components.

Dru2 · May 30, 2022

NavyLCDR said:
I make changes to BIOS settings as needed for virtual technology, graphics card settings, overlooking, memory profiles, TPM, SATA controller mode, RAID settings, power settings, etc. And they have always survived flashing to new BIOS version.

So, I guess all the system builders who's experienced the opposite, the hundreds of Google posts saying the same, the vendors who provides the BIOS saying the same are just imagining things and don't know what they're talking about

Yeah, ok