[SOLVED] Updating BIOS to upgrade to Windows 10?

[katerinafm]

Hello everyone. I am running windows 7 on a computer that runs well and is getting on in years (over 10 years old now but with upgraded graphics card and has been running new games fine).

I use my computer for gaming and it's been just fine but there's been a couple of games that have made it so it's only possible to run them on windows 10 which makes me start to consider upgrading more and more.

I haven't upgraded to windows 10 because windows 7 still runs great on my pc but most of all I am absolutely terrified something will go wrong or I'll make a mistake and I'll lose my computer. I have some tech knowledge but I've never done anything like this by myself and I'm not familiar with BIOS. Reading about upgrading to windows 10 it recommends to update your BIOS which I've never done and reading up on it sounds even riskier.

I ran the command prompt and used 'wmic baseboard get product' and 'wmic baseboard get manufacturer' which gives me the result Foxconn H67M-S/H67M-V/H67

But on system information I do not find this, instead I see BIOS Version/Date: American Megatrends Inc. A48PGP01, 15/12/2010

No idea what is what. Searching for Foxconn bios updates gives me unofficial sites or at least I don't know which is the official one and I have no idea what to do there, and the american megatrends website is also confusing me as to what I'm supposed to download. And again I have no idea which of the two I'm supposed to focus on, I'm clueless.

Can somebody assist me like I'm 5? Do you think I can avoid updating the bios entirely and just go straight to win10 or is that even worse on an old machine? I am really scared as I cannot afford to lose this computer or replace it. Thank you.

 

[geofelt]

CPU-Z will identify your motherboard and current bios level.
If you go to the support site for the motherboard, there will be a bios download section.
If there are some more current bios updates than what you now have, read
about what the update fixes.
Unless there is an update that is essential for w10 which I doubt, do not try to update the bios.

What are the make/model of all of your parts?
Do you have external backup in case anything should go wrong?
What, if anything, do you need to retain for use on w10?
Just data?
apps?
Will this be a 32 bit to 64 bit os conversion?

 

[BogdanH]

Ok, your motherboard is quite old and as your BIOS dates from 2010, I don't believe there exist some newer BIOS version for that board. But for installing Windows 10, BIOS version rarely matters -more important is, if your hardware is Windows 10 compatible in general.
And the only way to find out that is, try to install Windows 10. And by doing that, only two things can happen: Win10 will either install, or not -and if not, you'll probably get a message (why not) during setup.
Note: as geofelt said, save/backup your data first and also keep Windows7 install by hand (one never knows what can go wrong).

But keep mind.. you say, you can't play some games because they only run on Win10. But, even if you succeed to install Win10, that doesn't mean those (newer) games will be playable on your (kinda old) PC.

 

[katerinafm]

CPU-Z will identify your motherboard and current bios level.
If you go to the support site for the motherboard, there will be a bios download section.
If there are some more current bios updates than what you now have, read
about what the update fixes.
Unless there is an update that is essential for w10 which I doubt, do not try to update the bios.

What are the make/model of all of your parts?
Do you have external backup in case anything should go wrong?
What, if anything, do you need to retain for use on w10?
Just data?
apps?
Will this be a 32 bit to 64 bit os conversion?

Hi, thanks for replying. CPU-Z gives the same information as what I mentioned above, Foxconn for motherboard manufacturer and AMI for BIOS brand. Where does it show the level, do you mean the date that shows up, 12/15/2010? Does this mean I look at Foxconn or AMI's sites? I'm sure it's an obvious answer but they both are new things to me. I've mentioned my confusion at navigating where I need to go for the bios updates, this is completely new territory for me.

At some point I upgraded the ram and at another the graphics card which is the newest thing on the computer. I have intel Core i7 2600, GIGABYTE GTX 1070 and 8gb ddr3 of ram. Sorry if that's not the information you were asking for.

Ideally of course I want all my apps to work when I upgrade. 90% are games (can redownload most so it's fine) but I have some other apps like the office 2010 suite etc.

I have a backup and I'm on 64 bit.

 

[katerinafm]

Ok, your motherboard is quite old and as your BIOS dates from 2010, I don't believe there exist some newer BIOS version for that board. But for installing Windows 10, BIOS version rarely matters -more important is, if your hardware is Windows 10 compatible in general.
And the only way to find out that is, try to install Windows 10. And by doing that, only two things can happen: Win10 will either install, or not -and if not, you'll probably get a message (why not) during setup.
Note: as geofelt said, save/backup your data first and also keep Windows7 install by hand (one never knows what can go wrong).

But keep mind.. you say, you can't play some games because they only run on Win10. But, even if you succeed to install Win10, that doesn't mean those (newer) games will be playable on your (kinda old) PC.

Hi, thanks for responding. So far I've had no issues running new releases of games, the issue with them not running on my PC has only been the specific game going out of its way to use a function only available on windows 10. I think for the most recent one it was something with geo location or something similar (the Outriders newly released demo to be specific). I run games like the latest Assassin's Creed releases, Detroit become human, etc with no issues (just a couple of the more demanding games I could think of but there's been a lot more). Another game that I haven't been able to play simply because it uses the windows store is Sea of thieves for example. Of course there's some bottlenecking but so far my newer graphics card has been making up for the otherwise older hardware (gtx 1070). My point is the issue here is not the games not running because the computer is old specifically, it's the OS.

Now the issue with having an install of Windows 7 at hand is that I'm pretty sure I still have the disc of the win7 installation (though computer came preinstalled with it) but during the recent graphic card upgrade process I've had to disconnect my disc drive because there wasn't enough room for my graphics card (and I never used the drive).

 

[geofelt]

You have a H67 based motherboard and a relatively modern processor.
I do not think I would get too worried about not having the latest bios.
Updating a bios always seems risky in that a bios flash that does not complete properly can leave your motherboard useless.
Recovery can be difficult, and, in some cases not even possible.
I would not try.

You should be able to simply upgrade to windows 10.
Going from 32 bit to 64 bit would have required a clean install.

 

[katerinafm]

You have a H67 based motherboard and a relatively modern processor.
I do not think I would get too worried about not having the latest bios.
Updating a bios always seems risky in that a bios flash that does not complete properly can leave your motherboard useless.
Recovery can be difficult, and, in some cases not even possible.
I would not try.

You should be able to simply upgrade to windows 10.
Going from 32 bit to 64 bit would have required a clean install.

That puts my mind at ease, thank you. Sounds like I just need to make sure my backup is all up to date and I'll give upgrading to 10 a try without risking the bios. If windows 10 does not run well because of an outdated bios, is it possible to update it after I go to windows 10 or would it then be too late?

 

[BogdanH]

I think Windows 10 doesn't care much about BIOS version (in this case) and of course, you can update BIOS anytime later (if you realy have reason for doing that). Think of BIOS as very hardware related software.. means, if you change nothing on hardware (and PC runs fine), there's no reason to update BIOS.

 

[geofelt]

Bios can be updated later if an update fixes something that is a problem for you.
Windows will come with generic motherboard drivers; you may need to go to foxconn to get drivers if there are some specifically made for your motherboard and windows 10.

 

[katerinafm]

Bios can be updated later if an update fixes something that is a problem for you.
Windows will come with generic motherboard drivers; you may need to go to foxconn to get drivers if there are some specifically made for your motherboard and windows 10.

I cannot find foxconn's official website exactly, I find equivalents that offer the updates, is that normal? I could find AMI's website but not Foxconn's.

 

[geofelt]

AMI makes bios code for a number of different manufacturers.

I would imagine that you have a pre built pc.
In which case, look for the builder and their support site for relevant software.

 

[katerinafm]

AMI makes bios code for a number of different manufacturers.

I would imagine that you have a pre built pc.
In which case, look for the builder and their support site for relevant software.

Yeah that's right, it's pre-built. However while it was made by a popular company where I'm from, they don't seem to offer anything on their website to let you upgrade the bios.

I have another question about the bios while you're here. Could a bios that needs updating be a possible reason why I've had issues with installing more ram in the past? The reason I only have 8gbs of ram is because the ram sockets only appeared to work if I put 2gb of ram on each one, anything more and it just wouldn't work. Is there a connection?

 

[geofelt]

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.

Another possible reason is that motherboards may have restrictions on the amount of ram supported per slot, or in total. 16gb or 4gb per slot for example.

 

[katerinafm]

Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
The internal workings are designed for the capacity of the kit.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards, can be very sensitive to this.
This is more difficult when more sticks are involved.

Another possible reason is that motherboards may have restrictions on the amount of ram supported per slot, or in total. 16gb or 4gb per slot for example.

I remember buying kits and it wouldn't work. I had probably tried both kits with 8gb and 4gb. And while looking into it at the time my motherboard did say it supported 32gb. It was when a foxconn site was still around and I remember finding a page for my motherload and all its specs but now it's nowhere to be seen (I had made a topic on this years ago and looked back on it and a link I had posted on the motherboard at the time is no longer working). Quite frustrating. I ended up not figuring it out and settling for 8gb.

 

[Mr.Spock]

you would look for the mobo mfr site (Foxconn), but as far as bios update - if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Win 10 shouldn't care about bios, also if you were running 32-bit Win7 then you couldn't address more than 4GB of RAM

 

[katerinafm]

you would look for the mobo mfr site (Foxconn), but as far as bios update - if it ain't broke don't fix it.
Win 10 shouldn't care about bios, also if you were running 32-bit Win7 then you couldn't address more than 4GB of RAM

I'm on 64bit so that's not the issue here.

 

[geofelt]

I would be wary about getting driver and bios updates from a third party site.
How do they make their money?
They may simply want to advertise to you.
Or, they may be selling the info they gather from you.
A more nefarious site might install malware or a virus.

What I would do:
Leave the bios be.
Buy a new samsung 870 evo of the size you want.
Use their ssd migration app to copy your windows 7 to their device:

Tool & Software Download | Samsung Semiconductor Global

Download various software related to your product, including Samsung Magician, designed for use with Samsung's memory products, and find related information.

www.samsung.com

Remove your original C drive and keep it as a backup.
Try the windows upgrade option.
If it works, good.
If not, do a clean install on the new ssd. (Have no other drives attached while doing so)
Later, you can reconnect the original drive, and your data folders will be available, but not any apps that needed the registry to work(you now have a empty registry)

Considering that your pc is some 11 years old, I would consider upgrading to a current gen.
For <$250, you can buy a i3-10100 processor that is about twice the capability of your i7-2600, a lga1200 motherboard, and 16gb of ddr4 ram.