Question Trying to upgrade the bios on an old laptop

[okrobie]

This is a Toshiba L755-S5214 The old bios doesn't support UEFI. This is a junk laptop that I got at a pawnshop for a buck.(literally $1) but I am hopeful to make it usable for a neighborhood underprivileged student. It won't boot from a flash or the HDD drive so I first want to upgrade the BIOS from the CD drive.

Problem is I don't know how to create a bootable CD with the UEFI file on it. I have BurnAware Professional but I don't know how to use it and I don't understand the instructions. I have the UEFI file but its an .exe and not an ISO.

My goal is to install a new hard drive and put in Windows 11 from an ISO. ( I have an activation key).

Any and all help will be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

 

[Lutfij]

My goal is to install a new hard drive and put in Windows 11 from an ISO. ( I have an activation key).
https://gadgetaz.com/Laptop/Toshiba_Satellite_L755-S5214--3936
I wouldn't install Windows 11 on that laptop, not in 2024...or should I say 2025. In fact Windows 11 will turn a decade old as 2025 rolls in. You could just swap the HDD to a 2.5" SSD and then install Windows 10 on it but in all honesty, your neighborhood student would be better off with something more concurrent.

It won't boot from a flash or the HDD drive so I first want to upgrade the BIOS from the CD drive.
Are you able to get into BIOS? If so, can you select which drive you're able to boot off of? While in BIOS, what BIOS version are you currently on? Following that, cross reference the BIOS version listed here;
https://support.dynabook.com/support/modelHome?freeText=3025151&osId=3333728

 

[USAFRet]

This is a Toshiba L755-S5214 The old bios doesn't support UEFI. This is a junk laptop that I got at a pawnshop for a buck.(literally $1) but I am hopeful to make it usable for a neighborhood underprivileged student. It won't boot from a flash or the HDD drive so I first want to upgrade the BIOS from the CD drive.

Problem is I don't know how to create a bootable CD with the UEFI file on it. I have BurnAware Professional but I don't know how to use it and I don't understand the instructions. I have the UEFI file but its an .exe and not an ISO.

My goal is to install a new hard drive and put in Windows 11 from an ISO. ( I have an activation key).

Any and all help will be appreciated. Thanks, Jim

Looking at the specs here:
https://support.dynabook.com/support/modelHome?freeText=3025151

i3-2310M - Not supported for Win 11
4GB RAM - Much too small
500GB HDD - not good

This thing will be a dog.

I recommend a Linux distro, rather than trying to forcefeed Win 11 into it.

 

[okrobie]

Thank you both for your thoughtful replies.

Yes Windows 11 is a bad choice for that machine.

You could just swap the HDD to a 2.5" SSD and then install Windows 10 on it.
I sort of tried that. I have another junk Toshiba that has a more modern BIOS and put the HDD in to it and installed Windows 11 from a flash drive. It installed nicely, and then I put the drive back into the L755 but it refused to recognize the drive as bootable. I think that is due to the old bios, which is 1.9 btw. The machine with the more modern bios is UEFI compatible.

I would still like to get back to installing the 3.6 bios into the L755. So, what's a good way to create a bootable CD with the new bios .exe file on it?

Thanks, Jim